Fire and Ice
by byebyeholocene
Summary: Bethyl-Skating AU -Beth Greene and Zach Gallway are one of the most promising pair of skaters trying to make it to the Olympics. When Zach badly injures himself, their coach Rick decides to call his friend, retired skater Daryl Dixon, to take his place and help the team go to Sochi. What will happen when Daryl and Beth's fiery tempers will meet on the ice rink?[Rating might change]
1. Back To Square One

**This is my first ever attempt at writing a fanfic, so I hope it's not too bad! I couldn't resist my love for Bethyl! I apologize if there are many mistakes but I have no beta! If you like it let me know, and I will try and continue it :)**

* * *

The waiting room felt so cold that evening as Beth waited, worried and impatient, for the result of the x-rays. Those pictures were going to change the course of her future forever. They were going to determine whether all those years spent shedding tears, and blood, and sweat over the ice would have had their right, happy ending.  
Life wasn't right, though.

Beth knew it, she had learned it the hard way in her twenty-three years of life. Life was sacrifice, life was fighting, and, sadly, sometimes life was losing a battle or letting go of a dream.  
She knew it, and yet she was sitting there praying with all her being that Zach's injury wasn't as bad as it looked.

The Olympics were only a year and a half away, and after more than three years skating together her and Zach were one of the best pair-skaters in the country. Sure, an Olympic gold was almost an impossible achievement for such young skaters, but if they kept playing their cards right they had a chance of being one of the two American couples competing in Sochi, and you never know what happens.

That was, if Zach's leg turned out to be alright.

She turned towards her coach, Rick, and noticed how tense and pale he looked. It had to be hard on him, seeing Zach suffering the exact same accident that had ended his incredible career way too early and just when he and Lori were at their peak, ten years ago. They had been national champions three times, and world champions twice before the injury happened. After that, Rick had decided to become a coach, which quickly turned out to be an innate talent of his, while Lori had preferred staying at home and finally be able to care for their kids. They were happy, but Beth knew how much Rick had wanted that Olympic Gold, and now he was risking losing it all over again.

"How long will we have to wait?" she asked, trying not to sound as panicked as she actually was, nervously pulling on a strand of blonde hair that had come loose from her braid.

"They should tell us any minute now" Rick replied, a resigned look on his face.

"Rick, if he can't… what will we…?" Beth didn't want to say it out loud, it was just too much.

She had moved all the way to Massachusetts from Georgia when she was only seventeen for this. And Zach, too. His parents had put a mortgage on their house for him to be able to train with Rick and Beth.

"We will figure it out" he replied, but even he sounded uncertain for the very first time since she had met him.

Finally Bob Stookey, the surgeon, walked into the waiting room and Beth and Rick were immediately on their feet.

He didn't even have to talk. From the look on his face, Beth knew immediately it was bad news. Her heart was racing so fast that it was difficult for her to hear what he was saying, with all that pounding in her ears.

"I'm sorry. His anterior crossed ligament is badly torn, and he has two broken bones, one in his leg and one in his foot. I'm so sorry. We will do reconstructive surgeries and eventually he will walk again without problems, but…" he sighed, as tears started filling Beth's eyes "I'm sorry" he repeated "He won't be able to skate again."

And, just like this, it was over.

* * *

She couldn't cope with being in her house all by herself crying her eyes out, so Rick had offered her the guest room for the night.

Never had a dinner at the Grimes' being sadder than the one they had that night, with Lori trying to make them feel better with ice-cream, but having a really distraught expression on her face as well.

When Carl and Judith went to bed, the three of them went to the living room, where they sat down on the huge couch to talk about what was gonna happen next.

"Are we a hundred percent sure that Zach won't be able to recover?" Lori asked, in a small voice.

Rick nodded, before explaining, "I had a talk with Michonne, showed her the pics. No way the kid's gonna be able to skate after that."

Michonne was the team's physiotherapist, and if she said there was no chance, Beth was more than inclined to believe her. She sniffed, trying not to show them that she was crying again, but she couldn't help it. She would have had to start everything over, and she was already twenty-three. She would have been twenty-eight for the 2018, and that was if she could find a suitable partner for herself, and that was much, much harder than it sounded.

The reason why she worked so well with Zach was that they were both quiet, but very determinate and hardworking people. They never made a scene, they hardly ever fought, and their skating style was very similar: elegant, controlled and neat. That was why Rick had decided to pair them together, and he had been right.

What if she couldn't find anyone else? What if Rick decided to give up and take on another pair?

Lori put a hand on her arm and squeezed it gently, a sweet look in her big, brown eyes.

Rick finally looked at her, too, scratching his beard and seemingly thinking about something.

"I… I understand if you decide to drop me and pick another pair that's already formed. Everyone would love to be trained by you, and you deserve skaters that can take you to the Olympics" Beth said, and she meant it. She really did. It hurt, and she hoped with all her being that Rick wasn't gonna give up, but she also wished the best for him and if being her trainer wasn't it anymore, then she would have accepted it.

"Beth" his voice was firm, as he stared at her with intensity "I would never do that to you. You're one of the best skaters I've ever worked with, and I'll be damned if I can't find someone who will skate their way to Sochi with you"

She blinked, before shaking her head unhopefully.  
"You know as well as I do that it even if you found the best skater in the universe we still wouldn't have nearly enough time to qualify for the Olympics. You know it takes at least one or two years to really reach peak, and…"

"Beth. I have trained you for almost four years now. You and Zach worked great together but you know the real reason why I chose to train you guys was you."

Beth opened her mouth to protest, but Lori interrupted her.

"It's true sweetie. You are an incredible skater, and anyone would be lucky to skate with you. We just need someone that will make you shine, someone who will complement your style" she said, encouragingly.

Beth nodded, but truth was, she was feeling really overwhelmed right now. It had been just a few hours since her Olympic dream had been shattered, and her and Zach had worked together for such a long time that she wasn't only aching for herself, but for him and his dream too.

They were as close as brother and sister, and they had grown up together in the ice skating rink. If she had to be completely honest, she was grateful that Rick didn't want to give up on her but she also felt a bit outraged that he was willing to move past Zach so quickly.

Lori seemed to sense that then, because she looked at her kindly while saying "Why don't you get some sleep? We don't have to figure it out right now, and we're all still upset about Zach".

Beth nodded, and she got up wishing them a good night.

She was about to walk out of the room when Rick stopped her, a hand on her shoulder and that intense, determined look he had given her so many times before a competition.

"We'll make it, Beth. I know we will. I believe in this team" he stated, seriously.

She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat, and he let her go.

* * *

"Rick, honey, it's almost 1 in the morning. Are you sure you don't wanna wait until tomorrow?"

"There's no time, Lori. And this is our only shot to get to the Olympics, or at least try"

"Are you sure you wanna call him? You know he hasn't skated in quite a long time, he could be completely out of shape.. besides, for all we know he doesn't even have a phone anymore. He's just been living in the middle of the woods back in Georgia."

Rick sighed. He knew it was a really long shot, and that if Daryl Dixon had ever accepted his offer, which was rvery unlikely to happen, everyone would have thought he had gone nuts, or at least that he was really, really desperate.

God, Beth would have hated him for it.

But Daryl was one of the best skaters he had ever met in his life, and they used to be really close friends too, before his accident happened and before Daryl had decided to retire without any explanation a couple of years later. And, he didn't know why, he just had a gut feeling about this.

"…'llo?"

"Daryl? It's Rick. We have to talk."


	2. Daryl

**Thank you SO much to everyone who has fav, followed or reviewed! You guys are the best and I can't even begin to explain how much it means to me! This chapter is way longer than the first one, as that one was just an 'experiment'. ****From now on, chapters will be approximately this length!**

* * *

The ice rink was incredibly silent that morning. After a weekend of barely any practice, Beth had gotten up at the sound of her usual 6 am alarm.

After Zach's accident, Rick had decided to give her (and himself) a couple of days to recover from the shock, but he had been determined that Beth went back on the ice first thing Monday morning. It made sense to her, because while Rick started looking for a new partner for her, she had to make sure she didn't lose her form. That alone was gonna be difficult, not being able to do any throws or lifts without a partner.

She had woken up feeling groggy from all the crying she had done during the weekend. Sunday had been especially hard, because she had gone to the hospital to visit Zach.

The guy was absolutely devastated, and Beth's soul was even more empathic than usual, since they had been training, winning, losing together every day for the past four years: his pain was hers, and to know that while she still might have a shot his career was over forever was just unbearable to her.

"I don't wanna skate with anyone else, Zach" she had murmured, feeling tears prickling her eyes once again.

He had held her hand then, as they always did awaiting for the results of a competition, or right before they went on the ice to perform.

"Beth. You have worked so hard to get where you are. You are such an incredible skater" he had squeezed her hand harder "I want you to skate again. I need you to win for both of us."

She had started sobbing then, her face buried on Zach's shoulder.

"It's.. s-so unf-f-fair."

"It is. But trust me, I'd rather see you skate with someone who isn't me that not skate at all."

She knew he was sincere. Sweet, kind Zach, always wanting the best for everyone. Never in her life had she felt more connected to him than in that moment, as all they had shared together passed in front of her eyes.

"If I'll ever win a medal again, it'll be yours. They all will be yours, Zach. I wouldn't be half the skater I am today if it hadn't been for you" she said, softly, a new determination in her voice.

She was gonna do it for him.

* * *

Jacqui, the receptionist of the ice rink, had welcomed her with a sad, understanding smile, offering her a hot cup of coffee without saying any word. Beth was incredibly grateful for that.

She went to the changing rooms to put on her training clothes, black leggings, a bright pink tank top and a black sweatshirt. She put her skates on, but she didn't go on the ice yet, having to stretch first, which she started doing on the gym mats placed right outside of the ice.

She wasn't alone.

"Hey, Bethy"

Glenn Rhee was the current national champion in Male Figure Skating, and had come in third at the last World Championship. Beth was ready to bet he was gonna snatch an Olympic medal in Sochi, and she really hoped he did.

She really liked Glenn. He was funny, laid back and very friendly and humble. He had moved to Massachusetts one year ago to train with Karen, and every day they shared the rink. They also shared their choreographer, as Carol had come up with the programs for both Glenn and Beth and Zach.

From the day he had arrived, he and Beth had instantly clicked, and they had quickly become close friends, with Glenn making fun of her for being such a perfectionist and a neat-freak, and her teasing him for the crush he had developed on Maggie the last time she had come to visit from Atlanta.

"Hey Glenn" she looked up at him and she saw the concern in his eyes.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, sitting down beside her and pushing his dark hair out of his forehead.

Beth shrugged, offering him a small smile.

"I saw Zach yesterday" she said, knowing that would be enough for Glenn to understand.

He nodded, placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be alright. He's a smart guy, he will find something else he loves and be great at it".

This was the thing she liked the most about Glenn: he was an incurable optimist, and he always managed to make her feel better when something was wrong.

'But what about me?', she wanted to ask, but she didn't. She felt incredibly selfish even thinking about herself after what had happened to Zach.

"You'll be alright too" Glenn added, as if he was able to read her mind.

She smiled a little then.

"Thank you"

* * *

Rick was late.

In all those years of being her coach, he had never once been late, his work ethics one of his main character traits.

Beth was confused. Why had he insisted for her to go to the rink anyways if he wasn't gonna show up?

She was skating aimlessly, working on her jumps and feeling more and more perplexed. She kept looking at Carol, as if the woman could have an answer to her unasked questions. The choreographer kept giving her a reassuring smile, but Beth could read it in her eyes that she was starting to wonder what was going on as well.

Beth almost wanted to take her skates off and go home, get some rest, call her dad. But she knew what he would have told her if she had explained her the situation.

"We all have jobs to do, and yours is being on that rink skating as your coach told you to do."

She could hear his calm, firm voice so clearly in her mind that she didn't dare step off the ice.

When she had called him after Zach's accident, he had been very clear with her: if skating was still her dream and passion, don't she dare give up on it. If she had kept working hard, he had said, amazing things could have happened.

Although Beth had always been a happy, positive person, it was hard for her right now to believe him. But her father had always believed in her, and she owed it to him not to give up until the cause was lost. It's not over until it's over, she told herself repeatedly.

* * *

It was almost 10 in the morning, and Beth was starting to lose her mind.

Carol had kindly offered her to work together on some of her elements while she waited for Rick, and they were halfway through a spin when the door at the top of the bleachers opened loudly.

Beth's spinning came to a sudden stop that resulted in her falling flat on her butt.

She didn't care though, because Rick was here and he wasn't alone.

She squinted, trying to see who the man behind her coach was. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a lean body. He had shaggy brown hair and a scruff on his face, and he was wearing a dark tee and dark jeans with boots. He was handsome in a rugged way, but his blue eyes were darting everywhere as he looked incredibly pissed off for some reason.

He wasn't totally unfamiliar to her. The more she took his presence in, the more she thought she recognized him from something; she just couldn't place her finger on where she had seen him.

Apparently though, Carol, Karen and even Glenn knew who he was, because she could hear them murmuring, and Karen audibly said "Oh my God".

Beth hurriedly got up and skated towards them, the two man had walked down the benches and were now waiting for her at the edge of the rink.

"Hi" she said uncertainly, nervously pulling on a loose strand of her, her eyes moving from Rick to the stranger.

"Beth, I wanna introduce you to someone" said Rick, who looked strangely nervous. "This is my old friend Daryl Dixon."

Daryl Dixon. Of course. It all came back to her in a flash. She had seen the man on a picture on the Grimes living room's wall. He looked younger then, and his face was completely different because he was smiling, his arm around Rick's shoulder.

She knew he was a family friend, but that wasn't the only reason she remembered his name.

Daryl Dixon used to be a skater, an incredibly talented one. He had been Andrea Harrison's partner for years: they had won two world titles together, but he had mysteriously chosen to retire two months before the Olympics, at only twenty-five years of age, and had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Rick had once told her he had moved back to Georgia to steer clear of the media's attention, and from what Lori had said he lived a very private life somewhere in the woods.

His name still turned many heads, and the speculation about his retirement had never really stopped even though almost six years had passed.

Andrea had been furious, bashing him at every chance she had, and Beth couldn't really blame her for that. Luckily for her, Andrea had found a new partner in Philip Blake, and the two of them had won an Olympic Silver medal only two years ago, before retiring and joining forces to become coaches themselves, back in Chicago, where Andrea was from.

"Nice to meet you, Daryl" Beth said, feeling a little intimidated under the man's stare.

He grunted in reply, and Beth could see Rick rolling his eyes.

She was starting to get curious as to why Daryl Dixon was here and not in the wild, hiding from the public. Why had Rick called him? It couldn't possibly be to skate with her, that didn't make any sense.

Right?

She looked at them expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

Behind her, Glenn had completely stopped skating, and him, Carol and Karen were all intent in trying to understand what was going on too. Daryl looked extremely uncomfortable that they had an audience.

Rick nodded his head towards the locker rooms door, and Beth quickly stepped off the ice, grabbing her blade covers and putting them on before following them.

They stepped into the locker room and Rick closed the door behind them. Beth was starting to feel more and more nervous.

"Beth," Rick started, looking at her with his steel blue eyes and a dead serious expression on his face "I've thought about it a lot, and I asked Daryl to be your new partner" he announced.

Was this a joke? Beth stared at him for a minute, incredulous, waiting for the part when he told her he was joking, but it never came.

"He has agreed to try and see if it works for a trial period of two weeks," Rick explained, and Beth could see that he was tense, and he kept looking at her as if she was going to blow off any second. And, to be fair, she probably was.

As for Daryl, he hadn't stopped frowning since he had stepped into the building, and, if possible, he looked even angrier than before, refusing to look at her, eyes fixated on the back of Rick's head as if he was trying to set it on fire.

"I know this is a bit out of the blue, and I know Zach's incident was just days ago, but... what do you think?"

Wow. He was serious. It wasn't a joke, and it wasn't a nightmare even though it sounded like one.

"Rick…I… I don't know, uhm…" she was trying really hard not to start crying again and to hold herself together, but she was about to have a meltdown.

The guy hadn't skated in what, six, five years? And he looked like he was only there cause Rick had somehow forced him to, and the last thing he had done as a skater had been ditching his long time partner months before the Olympics.

This had to be a nightmare.

"Good. She don't wanna do this, an' I don't neither. Looks like I can leave now."

Daryl's voice was low and gruff, and she and Rick both turned towards him. He was glanced at her before pointing his frown towards the coach.

"She didn't say that. She's just surprised, and I'm sure you understand that, Daryl" Rick's tone was menacing and cautious at the same time, as if he wanted to remind Daryl that he had no choice but being there, but he also expected him to run away anyways.

"Course she's surprised, for fuck's sake! Christ, I ain't no damn skater anymore, 'least one of you can see that!" Daryl lashed out, his temper lost and one finger pointed towards Rick.

"Daryl.."

"No! I fucking retired, I'm outta the game!"

Rick sighed and tilted his head. Oh, this wasn't good. The head-tilt was very dangerous: Rick Grimes was mad.

"You didn't retire, you quit!" he snapped "And you and I both know that if you hadn't you would have won that Gold. We both know that you still had many good years ahead of you, and I wanna give you a chance to redeem yourself. You need that redemption, and Beth needs a skater that can measure up to her"

This was why he was such a good coach. He was a natural leader, and people couldn't help but follow him.

Even though she was absolutely against the idea of skating with Daryl, she knew she would have given him a chance if Rick really wanted her too. No matter how old he was, or the fact that he had a mouth like a sailor, or that he definitely didn't wanna be there and that they would have ended up killing each other: she trusted Rick with her life, and he had never failed her.

Daryl Dixon looked like an extremely stubborn man though, and she was holding her breath waiting for his reaction.

He seemed to have calmed down a bit, and he was now looking at Rick with a dead serious look on his face.

"Rick, I ain't no good at skating anymore. Haven't properly trained in years… hell, I pro'bly don't have the body or the breath for it 'nymore. I can't be your man" he said, and he looked almost embarrassed, his eyes not falling to the floor.

"Yes, you can" Beth herself was surprise at hearing her own voice, and so were the two men, both of them staring at her.

She blushed, but she continued: "If Rick says you're the right person for me, I believe him. I trust him. If you're willing to commit to this trial period, I'm in" she declared, trying not to sound as scared as she was.

Daryl looked angry again, shaking his head.

"You're gonna regret this. Don't say I didn't warn ya" he grunted.

Rick tried to hide a smile, and Beth couldn't believe she had just set herself up for this torture. It was gonna be hell, she knew it.

"Do ya want me t'change in front of ya?" Daryl snapped then. "Get out"

She blushed again and hurried out of the door, Rick following her with a smirk on his face.

Oh, this was gonna be bad.

* * *

**Follow/Fave/Review if you liked it Hopefully I'll update really soon!**


	3. Loose Cannon

**Thank you so so so much for your kindness, to everyone who's reviewed, or followed or even just read! I hope this new chapter doesn't disappoint you. Next one we'll finally have DARYL'S POV, let's se how that will work out for me ahah! I hope to update soon and that you enjoy this :)**

* * *

As soon as Beth made it back to the ice rink, still quite shocked by what had just happened, Glenn assailed her, while the two women made their way towards Rick.

"Tell me that Daryl Dixon aka 'The Fugitive' isn't your new skating partner"

"Daryl Dixon isn't my new skating partner"

Glenn sighed, relieved.

"Good. Jesus, I thought Rick had completely lost his mind"

"Daryl Dixon is in a trial period to _become _my new skating partner"

"WHAT!"

"I know"

"But.. But he is _old"_

"He isn't that old. He's thirty, same age as Trankov, and Szolkowy is thirty-four!"

Beth protested weakly, reminding herself first that the best male pair skaters weren't at all younger than Daryl Dixon.

"Yes, but, Beth. They haven't been on a five years long break!" Glenn seemed completely incredulous, and she couldn't really blame him.

She knew that as soon as the news was out everyone was gonna lose their minds over it. The media was gonna go absolutely crazy, and she could already see the headlines calling Rick nuts and her desperate and Daryl… well, all sorts of things, probably.

She had no idea why Rick had decided to call Daryl. She wished he would have talked about it with her before showing up with him without warning, but then again, if he had she would have straight out refused. No one in their right state of mind would choose a retired skater with a terrible case of bad temper over a young, trained one who was _willing _to perform.

Maybe Rick hadn't had any other options, but she doubted it. After all, she had come in second at the last Nationals with Zach, she was pretty sure that there was more than more skater that would have been more than happy to skate with her.

And yet, here she was waiting for Daryl Dixon to come out of the locker room.

As she thought back to the exchange happened some minutes ago, she wondered how Rick had managed to convince Daryl to end his retirement, since the skater didn't look like he would have rather been anywhere but there.

"Are you out of your _mind?" _Carol's voice shook her out of her thoughts.

She turned around to see her choreographer arguing with a very guilty-looking Rick.

"Man, I'm so happy we share the rink. This next few weeks are gonna be _such _a show. I can't wait. Do you think I should bring pop-corn?"

Beth slapped Glenn on the shoulder, exasperated. She was never gonna tell anyone, but she already deeply regretted having accepted this deal.

She was about to go talk to Rick when Daryl Dixon came out of the locker room, skates on his feet and wearing a black tee and black trousers, looking as grumpy as always.

"C'mon. I don't got no time t'waist" he grunted, looking at Rick and Carol.

The woman sent him a very disapproving look, while Karen was unashamedly staring at him.

Glenn skated away from Beth, looking clearly intimidated by Daryl's presence, and he finally set foot on the ice.

And so it began.

* * *

She had to admit it, she was quite impressed. For someone who had completely given up on the sport, Daryl was not as out of shape as she had imagined.

Of course, his jumps lacked consistency and he couldn't pull off a triple, but she could tell that he was just a natural on the ice. He flowed, moving fast, much faster than Zach had, and he just had a fluidity to his skating that she found herself captured by, sitting on the benches observing him.

She also noticed how different their styles were when it came to jumps, spins, and pretty much everything else. Adapt to the other's moves was gonna be tough.

"He's good, uh?" Rick was sat beside her. They had decided they would have started working on their lifts in the gym later that afternoon. Right now the most important thing was that Daryl regained familiarity with the ice.

Beth nodded, an uncertain smile.

"Do you think he'll be back in shape in time to compete?" she asked, her eyes still fixated on Daryl as he flew on the ice.

"I'm sure he will. His body is a machine, I've seen him recover for injuries faster than anyone I've ever met."

Beth was silent for a bit, watching as Daryl fell trying a jump sequence.

His movement were not as polished as hers, not as neat, not as graceful. But they were full of an energy she didn't know, and despite his strong, masculine figure, they had an elegant quality to them.

"Our styles are so…"

"Different. I know. It's part of the reason I wanted him to be your partner, actually. Zach had a very similar style to yours, and while that made it easy for you two to work, there was that _something _that was missing in your skating."

Beth opened her mouth to protest, but Rick interrupted her.

"If you and Daryl make this work, you'll be on a whole different level: grace and strength, elegance and power, precision and unpredictability. You'll be amazing."

"The Nationals are in four months. We need to compete at least once before then to qualify" she stated "We'll never m…"

"You will. I put you two in this position, and if you give me all you have I will make damn sure you will."

Rick looked at her.

"Do you trust me, Beth?"

"You know I do."

"Good. That's all that matters."

"Does he?" she then asked, going back to looking at Daryl skating on the rink.

Rick didn't answer.

* * *

Daryl hadn't joined them for lunch, and Beth was equally relieved and disappointed at that.

On one hand, she knew he would have been antisocial and unpleasant and that would have made her feel even more discouraged than she already was.

On the other hand though, so much of that sport was about being a team. Not only with your partner but with your coach and choreographer and with the people you had to spend all your time with, like Glenn and Karen, but also Jacqui, Michonne and many more.

All these people, she considered her family. Especially with the fact that she was miles and miles away from her real one.

The fact that Daryl wasn't even trying irritated her quite a bit, but she tried to justify him because it was his first day after years of retirement, and he probably was as overwhelmed as she was.

She kept repeating these things to herself in her mind as she and Rick climbed the stairs for the gym, which was on the top floor of the ice rink, a beautiful view and a lot of huge windows and a wooden floor.

Daryl was already there, lifting weights. Beth couldn't help but blush a little bit when she eyed his arms and noticed how muscular they were. He might have been off the ice for some time, but he definitely had kept working out.

If he had saw them, he didn't show it.

Rick walked to the centre of the room and Beth followed him, hating that she was feeling shy all of a sudden: this was _her _territory. _She _was the one in shape.

"So. We gotta start with the basic lifts, build up your confidence so we can try them on the ice as soon as possible. Now, Beth, Daryl has quite a different lifting technique from Zach. Daryl, come here"

Daryl moved towards them, and Beth had the distinct impression that he was like a huge feline, making no noise, all fluid and elegant movements.

It was the first time he was actually near her, and he smelled like pine and woods. She found herself liking the warmth of it.

She felt a bit distressed now that the moment to actually work with him had come. She knew she had to be professional, but he was still a stranger that was going to touch her and lift her and throw her, and she hadn't had any time at all to start warming up to the idea, or to him.

He looked as uncomfortable as she was, as Rick gave them the instructions on how they were going to have to adapt to each other and asked them to try a Swan Lift, which was considered pretty easy.

Daryl placed himself in front of her.

She could feel her heart beat a little faster, but that had to be the nervousness at being lifted up by a stranger.

He placed his hands on her waist, and the difference between his touch and Zach's startled her. Zach's hands were much smaller and more delicate. Daryl's were rough, and strong and big. She felt herself blush at the realization that Daryl was very much a man while Zach was still somewhat a boy, and her eyes rushed to the floor.

"Gotta look at me, girl" he said, roughly.

Beth noticed that the tips of his ears had turned slightly red. She could have sworn that Rick was trying not to chuckle at their interaction.

She nodded, and put her hands on his arms, holding them.

She finally stared into his eyes, and they were the bluest blue she had ever seen.

He cleared his throat, and then said "Ya ready?"

"Ready"

He lifted her, seemingly without any effort, and she could tell immediately he was taller than Zach. His technique was indeed a bit different: he was faster than Zach, more powerful but still precise.

"Ya heavier than y'look" Daryl grunted, putting her down. She gave him a frown, but she found herself wanting to smile and, for a moment, he looked like he wanted to grin, too, before he went back to his usual frown.

Rick was nodding satisfied and a bit relieved, before he started correcting some of their moves.

"Good, that was good. Let's try that again a few times, and then we'll move to other, more difficult things" he said.

It was gonna be a long afternoon.

* * *

Beth couldn't believe it, but she was starting to think that this thing could work.

Once they had started to adjust to each other, the lifts with Daryl had become easier and easier, and he had a strength and solidity to him that made her feel like she could trust him even when she was feet above the ground.

It had been a good first training. Sure, Daryl had barely spoken a word in the four hours they had been together working with Rick, but he didn't seem like a chatty person at all.

She was sure he was gonna warm up to her, eventually. After all, she was quite a likeable person: she brought homemade cookies and brownies to practice, she always remembered everyone's birthday. She liked people, and people tend to like her in return.

She came out of the locker room's shower and changed quickly into a pair of jeans and a simple, white t-shirt. It was the beginning of September, and it was still pretty warm outside.

She fixed her hair and put on a little make up, to look less dead-tired than she actually was.

She had decided she was going to ask Daryl if he wanted to come over for dinner, as she and Zach used to do all the time, so that they could get to know each other. After all, if this ended up working, they were gonna be in each other's presence for an incredible amount of time: having a friendly relationship was essential to the success of this thing.

She started walking towards the men's locker room, deciding she was gonna wait for him outside.

As she was walking down the hall though, she heard Daryl's voice coming out of Rick's office.

"I want _out_"

"Daryl, let's talk about this-"

"I don't wanna talk about nothing! I wanna go back t'Georgia. This ain't workin', Rick"

She stood still, a few feet away from the door, listening with her heart pounding in her chest.

"You know as well as I do that it _can _work! You've seen how well practice went today, I know you can do it!"

"Yeah well, I don't want to! I don't want nothing to do with this world anymore, I don't want no press stalkin' me 'round, no people starin' at me like I'm some piece 'a trash, and I sure as hell don't wanna skate with your Barbie Princess t'save your ass! 'Cause she sure as hell ain't worth all this"

Before Rick could say anything, Daryl stormed out of the door.

As soon as he saw Beth, he stopped dead in his tracks.

She knew she looked scared, standing there with her best intentions ruined and her eyes wide open.

"…are you _leaving?" _she asked, even though it was rather obvious.

"You'll have to find yerself someone else, girl. I ain't doing this."

And, without looking at her, he left.

* * *

"He hates me, Mags. I'm not making this up. You should have heard the way he called me a 'barbie princess' when he was talking to Rick"

The good news was, she wasn't crying. No, this time, she was mad.

How dare Daryl Dixon treat her like that? Who the hell did he think he was?

"That's just not possible, Bethy" her sister's voice filled her ear from the phone. Beth was sitting on the from porch of Rick's house.

He had asked her to come over for dinner, and she knew it wasn't just because him and Lori had sort of adopted her. She knew he wanted to discuss the situation with her, this time.

"Well it is, because he left. I don't know what Rick did to convince him to be here, but he obviously didn't wanna do this, and apparently training with me was the last straw. I must be worse than I think I am"

"Don't be silly. He's obviously got issues. I looked him up on Google and the things I've read… To be honest, Bethy, I'm kinda glad he's not gonna be your partner."

Beth sighed.

"He looks hot though" Maggie added, making her laugh.

"You know Glenn is still madly in love with you? You should go out with him next time you come visit"

Maggie laughed some more "In love, huh? Well maybe I should. I'm tired of assholes, that's for sure. And that Daryl sounds like one, so you're much better off without him"

"Only I don't have a partner, without him"

"Rick will find someone else, I know he will! C'mon Beth, you're one of the best pair skaters in the country! People will be lining up to skate with you!"

"Not now, though. The season's about to start, no one in their right state of mind would do a change of partner now."

"You guys will figure it out, I know it. In the meantime, if you see this Dixon guy again, you better tell him to go to hell, with love. No one can treat my 'lil sister like that. Okay?"

Beth smiled. Talking to Maggie always made her feel better.

"Okay Mags, thanks"

"I'll see you soon, I promise. And say hi to Glenn!"

* * *

She was in the kitchen helping Lori with dinner while Rick took a shower.

She loved being with Lori: she could be maternal and nurturing, but fun and friendly at the same time. She was such a classy, strong woman, and Beth aspired to become like her one day. She knew she could confide in Lori, and more than once she had gone to her for advice.

"He's always been a bit of a loose cannon, you know"

Lori had spoken in a casual tone, but Beth knew she was trying to tell her something.

"Yeah, I've noticed"

Lori smiled, passing her some carrots to peal while she dealt with the sauce.

"I've known Daryl for a long time, since he was your age, or maybe even before that. I know he comes off as rude and angry, but that's just the surface"

Beth wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but she decided against it. She always listened to what Lori had to say to her. Lori continued.

"I know what happened today must have been hurtful for you. But I also know that Daryl Dixon would never do anything that he doesn't want to do. He is scared, Beth, but he'll come around. The frown, the harsh words… it's all an act. This sport was never kind to him, and life has dealt him some bad cards."

Beth was staring at her, the carrots long forgotten.

"He's a good person, and he's an incredible skater. He's scared, but I've seen the way Rick's eyes sparkle when he talks about your training today. You guys could to great things together. Don't let him scare you off, too. Let him lean on you. Let him _trust _you."

* * *

**Thank you for reading this :) Leave a review or a follow if you liked it!**


	4. On The Ice

**Guys, this was so hard to write. Like, so hard. I hope you can still appreciate it :) Daryl is such a difficult POV to write for me, compared to Beth.**  
**At least, it's done! I hope you enjoy it and thank you to everyone who comments-favs-follows :)**

* * *

He was screwed.

He knew he never should have let Rick drag him back on the ice rink, and he had no idea why he had let him do it.

One simple answer was that he missed skating. Every day since the day he had decided to quit, he had missed it too damn much.

Daryl sighed, tossing and turning in the hotel's bed, trying to get some sleep but failing miserably. Fuck. He couldn't shake the sensation being back on ice had given to him, it was like an addiction, an adrenaline rush.

He was sore, too. He definitely was out of shape, one more reason why he shouldn't be doing this. Rick had to be pretty fucking desperate to think that he was his best chance.

When his old friend had called him a couple days ago asking him to be Beth Greene's new partner, he had thought it was a joke. Rick was serious, though, and he had pushed and insisted, reminding Daryl of all the times he had had his back. Daryl had to admit it was a pretty long list.

Still, he had refused. And then he had refused again, and again. He had even refused after Lori had tried to talk him into it.

Rick had hung up the phone, but two days afterwards, a box had been delivered at his door. In that moment, he immensely regretted Rick being one of the few people to know his address, a cottage buried in the woods of Georgia.

In the box, there was a USB pen and a letter.

The letter was short and simple:

"_Watch this. If you still wanna say no afterwards, that's your stupid decision"._

Jesus Christ. And he thought Rick was a level-headed person.

He had taken the USB pen and reluctantly inserted it in his computer, and had found himself staring at one of the most beautiful skaters he had ever seen.

Beth Greene was elegant, clean and incredibly expressive, not to mention those legs who seemed to go on for miles and the fact that she clearly was an amazing skater. Her partner, Zach Gallway, he read, wasn't too bad himself, but he was definitely outshined by Beth's presence.

Daryl had caught himself imagining Beth Greene skating with him: the movements, their different styles merging together, it all came to him without effort.

Terrified, he had tried to shake all of it out if his mind, throwing away the damn USB pen and tearing Rick Grimes' letter to shreads.

Fuck this, he had told himself. He had retired, he wasn't gonna come back to that same world that had made him want to leave the thing he cared the most about in the first place.

And yet, here he was, lying awake in a bed in a small town next to Boston, after his first day of _practice._

His mind was full of a thousand different thoughts: how as soon as the press would have found out they would have destroyed him, and with him Beth, and Rick. How he wasn't good enough anymore anyways, so he should save everyone some time and get the fuck outta there before this became an official deal. How he hated the way everyone looked at him after what he had done to Andrea, and how he hated the way people used to look at him even before, like he was some vicious wild animal.

All of these things though, weren't enough to erase the incredible feeling he had had there, flowing on the ice once again.

And the main reason why he had decided to quit, his _secret, _well that couldn't be used against him anymore.

As much as he denied it to himself, he wanted to go back to skating so bad. As terrified as he was, he couldn't wait to practice more tomorrow. That is, if Beth Greene ever wanted to see his face again.

* * *

He had been such a dick.

What he had said about Beth being a Barbie Princess and not worthy of his time was absolute bullshit. Sure, she _looked _like a bit of a spoiled princess, but the way she had welcomed him had been so different from the suspiciousness or superiority he was used too.

She had been kind, and nice to him, and it was obvious that she was trying to get to know him.

She was really hard working, Rick had described her to him as a bit of an OCD kinda person, but he appreciated that. He, too, had always been a perfectionist when it came to skating.

She had been nice, and she was so talented, and even if he would have rather died than admit it to himself, the way she had blushed when he had first touched her had made him want to smile.

And now, she probably hated him. And that was all his fault for being such a foul mouthed dick.

If she had been Andrea, she would have probably killed him right there and then.

But then again, he had a feeling that Beth was a completely different sort of person from his ex-skating partner. Andrea and he were way too similar under a lot of aspects: both were reckless and short tempered. They used to fight all the time, and even though they obviously cared about each other as partners, they had never gotten along well in real life, they never were _close._

Daryl had grown up surrounded by very nervous, angry people. The way Andrea always snapped at him and called him names only made him want to be more of a jerk to her. They had been good partners, but they brought out the worst in each-other whenever they stepped off the ice. That had been just one more reason for him to quit.

He didn't know Beth Greene, but he could tell that if she wanted him back, things would have been completely different from the way they used to be with Andrea, and he liked the idea.

Now, he only had to hope Beth was gonna have him back. Of one thing he was sure, though: he was _never _going to apologize.

* * *

He showed up to the ice-rink at 7.30 am, and he was surprised to see that the Asian guy was already there, warming up on the gym-mats placed on the sides of the ice.

When he saw him, the guy stood up and walked towards him.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to introduce myself yesterday. I thought you were gonna join us for lunch! Anyways, I'm Glenn"

Daryl stared at his hand for some time. He didn't like new people, but he was trying not to be a dick today.

"Daryl"

"Yeah, I know. Dude, how crazy that you're skating again!"

Glenn exclaimed. Daryl didn't say anything, focusing on not telling this kid to fuck off for reminding him he wasn't supposed to be there.

Glenn tried again.

"You're gonna love Beth, you'll see. She's a really sweet girl, and she's crazy talented, too"

"Ya datin' her?" he grunted. He didn't mean anything by it, just a way to interrupt the guy's rambling. Now that he had asked though, he found himself to be interested in the answer.

"What?! No! Absolutely not! We're just friends. To be honest, neither of us really has time to date anyone. Even though if her sister Maggie ever agreed to go out with me I would find the time for that"

Jesus, was this kid ever gonna shut up?

Right then, the locker room door opened and Beth was there, a bright pink hoodie and black leggings, hair up in a messy bun.

As soon as she saw Daryl, her big baby blues turned to ice. Her eyes were so big and expressive, he felt immediately compelled to make them go back to their usual warmth.

"You're here" she said, coolly.

"Yeah" he replied, lamely.

Glenn kept shifting his eyes from him to her, as if he was following a tennis match.

"Do you have anything to say?"

"Yeah. We gotta train if we're gonna be ready for the qualifications"

"Do we? I thought I was a Barbie Princess unworthy of your time"

Glenn turned towards him "Dude, what the hell?"

He didn't look at him. He kept looking at Beth.

"I thought you said you were leaving" she continued, crossing her arms.

He wasn't gonna apologize. He could only hope that him showing up was gonna be enough for her to have him back. God, he really hoped so.

"Well, 'm here now. So do ya wanna train or not?"

She didn't say anything for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, still without a word, she sat down on the mat and started stretching. When he didn't move, she looked at him with a raised brow.

"Well? I thought you wanted to train"

* * *

The first time he skated with Beth Greene was something he wasn't gonna forget easily. The girl was fast, and it didn't surprise him considering her long legs, but it was an amazing sensation nonetheless. She was quite a bit shorter than him, and still she could perfectly keep up with his pace.

When he had stopped, a bit abruptly, she had bumped into his chest. She smelled like vanilla, but she had looked up at him with wild, sparkling eyes. He had felt the back of his neck go hot.

"That was incredible" she had breathed out smiling at him. "Zach could never go this fast" she had admitted, looking a bit guilty.

Rick had smiled knowingly, while Daryl felt a surge of masculine pride at her words, feeling like a simpleminded idiot because of it.

As he had imagined, Beth was easy to work with, and adjusting to each other was turning out to be much easier than they had expected it. It was almost as if it was meant to be, and he tried not to think about the way her petite body fit perfectly against his every time he had to hold her.

The lifts were working well: she wasn't as powerful as Andrea had been, but her technique was so on point and she was so graceful that it was working anyways.

The jumps were more problematic. It wasn't her best element and she was struggling to adapt the height and the speed to his, while he still struggle with triples. It was only the second day though, and he could tell by Rick's face that it was going pretty fucking well.

When lunch-break arrived, Beth waited for him at the edge of the ice.

"Hey" she smiled at him "Do you wanna have lunch together with me and the others?" she asked, looking hopeful.

He really didn't want to. The Asian kid talked way too much, he could tell that Carol still didn't like him by the way she stared at him, and Karen looked at him as if he was some rare species.

He just didn't like strangers.

"Nah, thanks. I'll just go grab some food and head back"

"Oh." He could tell she was disappointed, and he hated to keep doing this to her. She tried to look unaffected and gave him a small smile "Well.. I guess I'll see you in an hour, then?"

"Yeah."

She nodded, and started walking away from him, looking a bit defeated.

He didn't like strangers, but Beth wasn't a stranger. Or at least, he didn't want her to be, if he had to be his partner. He _needed _to get to know her.

"Beth" he called at her, and she turned around immediately with a hopeful expression on her face.

He cleared his throat, before saying: "I dunno this town well. Come with me an' help me.. if you want to?"

She smiled and her eyes sparkled. He was quickly getting addicted to that too.

"Sure!"

* * *

They were driving in his beat-up truck. There was silence, but somehow it didn't feel awkward. Beth had shuffled through stations until she had found one that she liked, and she had started humming along to the music.

Her voice was soft and sweet, just like her, and Daryl found that he liked listening to her, and that he didn't mind her company.

"Turn right now and park in front of the Diner. My friend Tara works there as a waitress and I promise you they have the absolute best milkshakes you'll ever have"

He nodded and followed the instructions, parking in front of a colourful and cosy-looking diner.

They walked in and sat down at one of the boots. It wasn't really busy, but then again it was a small town.

"BETH!"

A waitress, tall and with dark hair, hurried towards them

"I've been trying to call you all weekend! I heard what happened with Zach.. sweetie, why didn't you tell me?"

Beth looked a bit embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Tara, it was just some crazy last few days" she explained. Tara seemed to finally notice him, and Beth quickly introduced him.

"This is Daryl, he…" she stopped, looking a little panicked. They had decided they weren't gonna announce this until it was gonna be definitive, and they hoped that the press wasn't gonna find out before then.

"I'm a friend of Rick's" he said, hoping that his usual stare would have worked and made Tara run away.

It did, she asked for her orders and, with one last curious glance, she left.

"Sorry, I forgot that we aren't supposed to say anything" Beth said, and her cheeks were red. He couldn't help thinking she looked really cute when she was flustered.

"'s alright" he answered, quietly.

"So, uhm… I haven't thanked you yet for accepting to do this. I know you didn't want to, and you're really saving me, so thank you" she said then, looking at him with sincere eyes.

He shook his head, feeling the back of his neck go warm again.

"Don't thank me. Haven' skated in years, and when the press finds out, they're gonna think yer crazy for doin' this."

"I don't care what they think" she stated, firmly.

He looked at her then, and he could tell she was stronger and more determined than she looked. After all, she had stood her ground with him this morning.

"Good. 'cause they're not gonna have no qualms when it comes to talkin' shit about me. And they'll drag you in, too, an' Rick"

Hell, just thinking about it made him wanna bolt. He really did hate the press.

"I don't care" she repeated "All I care about is that we're gonna shut their mouths when we place for Nationals".

He stared at her. He couldn't really help it.

"D'ya really think so?"

"Yes, I do. Rick does to." She affirmed. "Do… do you?"

Tara came back with their orders and he didn't reply. Truth was, he really didn't know what to think.

* * *

When they came back to the rink after lunch, Rick gave him a grin that made Daryl wanna go back to his truck and drive away.

But he didn't. He really liked Rick Grimes, and he liked Lori, too. They were good people, and they were some of the few people in the industry that had never believed any of the prejudices against him. They had gotten to know him, and slowly he had let them in. He considered them to be some of his very few real friends. They had been so mad when he quit.

"I see Beth has managed to get the bear to leave his cave"

"Shut up"

Rick laughed, before telling him and Beth that Carol had come up with a Short Program for them to learn, while she was still working on the Long.

"When the hell did she do that?"

"She's a genius, trust me. Let's go see her so she can show you guys. It's really good, I think you'll like it"

* * *

Rick was right. Carol Peletier was indeed a genius. He didn't wanna say it, but her program was really good. No useless dance moves just for the sake of it. It was elegant and powerful, and he really liked it.

Beth, on the other hand, was silent.

"What do you think Bethy?" Carol asked, looking at her.

They were in her dance studio, all sitting on the wooden floor.

"I love it" she confessed "It's so different from what we did with Zach"

Carol smiled, knowingly "Honey, he isn't Zach" she said, giving him an unreadable look.

He didn't know if he was meant to feel offended or not, but what mattered was that Beth liked it, and he did too. Hell, it was a solid program, probably the best one he had ever been offered to do, and full of difficult elements he hoped he could still pull off. He was sure that Beth was more than capable.

The music was a classical cover of some modern song he didn't know, but Beth seemed to be very excited at the idea.

"Alright" Rick said "Let's go back to the rink. Carol will come with us and direct you guys. Let's make this happen."

They walked down the stairs and soon, they were flying together on the ice again.

* * *

**I hope this didn't suck. I don't know if I'll be able to update daily cause the next few days will be hectic. I have classes to attend and assignments to do! Hopefully it won't take very long :)**

**Let me know what you thought! And, if anyone's interested, the music for their SP is Aston's terrific cover of ET by Kanye and Katy Perry!**


	5. Second Impressions

**Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is late and a bit shorter than the previous two. I had a super busy day with classes and assignments. Hopefully I'll update between tomorrow night and Wednesday night! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"So, what's he like?"

"..How did you..? I thought…"

"Rick told me, don't worry"

Beth was sitting on one side of Zach's hospital bed, both of them eating ice cream. He looked better and seemed a little bit happier than last week. She had come here to check on him and to tell him about Daryl, but apparently he already knew about it.

"So, what's he like?" he asked again, and Beth could see that he was doing his best to look genuinely interested and not bitter or jealous.

"He is… complicated" she answered. Truth was, she really didn't know how to explain Daryl Dixon. He could act like such a surly ass one moment, and look completely lost and shy the other, like when the tips of his ears turned red.

"Oh wow. Only what, three days of practice, and it's already complicated?"

Beth laughed. She missed Zach and the way things used to be so simple with him.

"He's not an easy person, but I think he's trying."

"Well, no one can be as great as me, I know that" Zach grinned "…And as a skater? Is he up to the standard?"

Beth nodded. She had been surprised, to say the least, to find that Daryl was still a perfectly capable skater, even if a bit rusty. He was just a natural, and you couldn't kill that even if you were the most stubborn man in the world.

"Mmh. I used to look up to him so much" Zach confessed, "You're lucky, Bethy. If he doesn't bail on you like he did with Andrea Harrison, I mean."

Beth laughed, even though the thought gave her anxiety. Daryl wouldn't do that to her, would he? But then again, she was no one to him, and Andrea had been his long-time partner, so...

"Yeah."

"Is he treating you well? I've read things about his temper, you know"

Zach was looking at her with his big, dark eyes, and Beth missed him more than ever in that moment. He always felt so comfortable with him, and with Daryl she had to fight to conquer him inch by inch.

"He… we're getting there, I think" she finally said. She could have lied to him, but she was an awful liar anyways, and Zach knew her too well for her to hope he wouldn't noticed.

Zach gently held her wrist.

"Beth. You are an _amazing _skater, but most of all you're a great person. Don't let anyone step all over you, okay?"

She knew he meant it, and she knew he was right. But she didn't think that Daryl was that kind of person: he pretty bad temper, sure, but as Lori had said, that was probably a defence mechanism.

"Okay"

"Good. Cause I kinda can't walk right now with this leg, and it'd be pretty awkward for me to try and beat him up"

* * *

"It's time to try the throws. We'll never be ready on time with our programs if we do"

Rick was looking at them intently. They had worked all morning on jumps and lifts, and things were going really well. Daryl wasn't talking much, as always, but Beth could have sworn that he had almost smiled at her a couple of times. Not to mention, when she had brought him her famous cookies the tips of his ears had gone red again, and she couldn't help but find it endearing.

She looked at him, and he seemed nervous.

"Rick, 's too soon for that"

"No, Rick is right." Carol intervened "The qualifications will be at the end of October, and your throws have to be absolutely perfect if you want a chance. It's now or never"

Daryl was looking at her with a hostile expression on his face, but Beth knew that Carol was right. It was gonna take time for them to feel sure of their throws, and the earlier they started, the better.

"Okay, let's do this" she said, and Daryl's head snapped towards her.

"I told ya I ain't ready!" he hissed. She wasn't gonna give in, though. Plus, she was the one who suffered the biggest risk in this.

"Well we gotta be" she stated, firmly.

He looked mad, but finally, he nodded.

They reached the ice, followed by Rick, and he started giving them directions to try a triple Salchow.

They started skating, and Beth knew that Daryl's speed and higher strength was gonna be a problem for her at the beginning so, when Daryl's hands went to her waist and he threw her in the air and she flew higher than she ever had, she wasn't surprised that she couldn't control her landing and she ended up with her butt on the ice.

Ouch.

It hurt. It wasn't anything that she hadn't experienced before, but the idea of a whole afternoon like this was becoming less and less appealing.

Before she could do anything, Daryl was at her side, looking incredibly concerned.

"'m sorry" he whispered, kneeling beside her and placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright. It's not your fault" she said, but he wouldn't look at her anymore.

"Told ya I ain't ready" he muttered.

Was this the reason why he didn't wanna do this? Was he afraid that he was gonna hurt her?

"Daryl, this was bound to happen sooner or later. It's okay, we'll get there" she said, sweetly, putting a hand on his forearm. His eyes darted to her hand and then to her face, before falling to the ground again.

Rick reached them, and offered Beth a hand to get up.

"Alright?"

"Yeah, let's try that again. Only way to get past the fear of falling again, right?" she said, trying to smile so that Daryl would stop feeling guilty.

He was staring at her now, an unreadable look on his face.

Then, he nodded.

* * *

She did fall again, and way more than once. In fact, she didn't think she had fallen that many times in one day since she was fourteen and still learning how to do throws.

She couldn't wait to get home and take a long, hot, soothing bath. The good news was that at the very end of the training the throws had actually started to work, and she was able to land them without falling down.

The worst part about that afternoon's training had been having to see Daryl's face after each fall. He just couldn't stand it, and she hated that he blamed it on himself.

After a particularly tough fall, that took her breath away for a second and made Carol gasp in shock, he had literally thrown himself towards her, sliding on the ice and gently grabbing her ankle.

"Can you move it?" he had asked, an edge of panic in his voice.

"Y-yeah" she had replied, still a bit overturn.

He had breathed out a sigh of relief then, and she had really wanted to hold his hand and hug him in that moment. That training was torture for him, and he was enduring it because she had asked him too.

Lori had been right when she had said that he wasn't mean or hateful as he looked and made people believe.

Daryl Dixon wasn't a bad person at all.

* * *

She had a really long, relaxing bath, and despite being sore everywhere she was feeling better.

She was already in bed, wearing shorts and an old oversized t-shirt, and she was talking to Tara on the phone.

"Wow, Bethy, that sounds intense."

"It was, but I'm fine. I'm glad that things seem to be working, with Daryl"

"And tell me, have you noticed that he is.. how to say this, handsome as hell?"

Beth felt herself blush even though no one was there to see her.

"TARA! I thought you were into girls!"

"Yeah well, that doesn't mean I'm blind" her friend was laughing, "I'm just teasing you. But, you know, if you wanted to go for it I'd _totally _support you."

"Tara…"

"Just look at Rick and Lori! It could work, you know?"

"I'm gonna end this conversation now if you don't stop it immediately. Plus, you never told me how it was going with that girl Erika that you were seeing…"

"Well, basically-"

Beth's doorbell rang. That was odd. Who could come visit her at 9 pm, especially knowing her schedule?

"Tara, I'm gonna call you back, someone's at the door."

"Yeah well, if he's armed and is wearing a mask don't open!"

Beth rolled her eyes, before hanging up the phone.

She walked to the front door and opened the door. In front of her was none other than Daryl Dixon.

* * *

"Daryl!" she definitely wasn't expecting this. He looked uncomfortable, the tips of his ears turning red when his eyes fell on her bare legs. She blushed uncontrollably.

"Came t'bring ya this" he said, clearing his throat, and without looking at her he gave her a jar with a green something inside.

She looked at it, taken aback.

"'s a parsley cream. Helps with bruises" he explained, before adding "Thought it might help after t'day. Sorry if I woke ya up"

She felt her stomach knot for a second, and she found herself smiling. This man _definitely _wasn't who people thought he was.

"Aww. Thank you, Daryl. That's really sweet of you" she said. His eyes still wouldn't found hers and he looked like he wanted to bolt.

"Least I could do after.. y'know"

"Daryl, it wasn't your fault" she said, more firmly.

He nodded, looking unconvinced.

"Do you wanna come inside and.. I don't know, have a cup of tea?" she found herself asking. What had gotten to her? Five minutes ago she was ready to go to bed and now she was inviting Daryl Dixon to have _tea _with her.

He shook his head "Y' need sleep".

"So do you."

He looked at her, and the intensity of his eyes sent her a shiver down her spine.

"See ya tomorrow"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Daryl. Thank you for the cream" before she even knew what she was doing, she was on her toe-tips, pressing a light kiss against his cheek. His scuffle was making her lips itchy, but she found she didn't mind.

When she took a step back she could see that his ears were as red as ever.

Without another word, he walked to his truck and drove away.

* * *

The morning after, Beth woke up feeling energized and ready to face a new day of training with Daryl. Her mind kept going back to that moment on her front door, and to the way his scuffle had felt when she had kissed his cheek.

What was she doing? She definitely wasn't supposed to be thinking about Daryl like that.

Sighing to herself, she grabbed her sports bag and went for the front door. When she opened it, it was like being in a nightmare. There were more than twenty people shouting at her and taking pictures, all of them asking her –yelling at her- whether it was true that Daryl Dixon was her new partner.

Panicked, Beth tried to ignore them and walk to her car, but they kept pushing her and snapping picture and demanding answers.

Finally, a hand reached for her arm. It was Rick.

"LEAVE HER ALONE" he roared at the paparazzi, while he dragged her towards his car, telling her to get in.

She did, and as soon as Rick was at the wheel, they left as fast as they could.

Beth was dazed and in shock, while she tried to breathe again after that terrible two minutes.

"Are you okay?" Rick asked, eying at her protectively.

She nodded, shakily. "How did they find out?"

"I don't know. Someone must have given them a clue. The news would have broken next week, anyways. I'm sorry about that. I knew it was gonna be bad, but I wasn't expecting this. Not on _you, _too."

"So what do we do now?"

"We work our asses off and we ignore them until we are ready to officially release a statement"

"Do you think they've done the same thing to Daryl?"

"I don't know. If they found out where he's staying, my guess is he had it much worse. He's not gonna be happy about this"

They arrived at the ice-rink and it, too, was surrounded by screaming paparazzi.

The peace was over.

* * *

**As usual, thank you SO MUCH to whoever comments\follows. It means so much to me! I love how you guys find Skater!Daryl hilarious, and I absolutely agree with you. If you wanna see the kind of male skater I have in mind, go look for Maxim Trankov ;) One last thing, if you guys wanna be friends I'm on tumblr with the url francescadb :D **


	6. Public

**I'm so so so sorry for the longer wait you guys! Y'all have been so amazing reviewing this thing (I'm also really sorry I couldn't answer all of your lovely comments personally) and I'm just overwhelmed! Sadly, though, I have essays to write, and assignments to do, so this just took longer to write. I hope it was worth it :)**

* * *

Rick had dragged her inside, making sure she didn't get harassed by the photographers and the paparazzi, shouting 'NO COMMENT' repeatedly while they made their way into the building.

As soon as they did they were greeted by Glenn, Karen and Jacqui, all of them looking shocked and stunned.

"Man, this is awful" Glenn said, putting an arm around Beth's shoulders "You okay?" he asked, gently.

"Yeah. Just… I wasn't expecting _this _to happen when the news broke" she said, looking at the others.

Karen shut the curtains. Beth could tell that she was pretty mad about the whole situation.

"Well _I _was" she stated, turning towards Rick "And you did too, and you lured them here by making Dixon come skate with Beth, and now they're never gonna leave."

Rick was about to say something but she continued: "My skater can't afford to be distracted or stressed by this whole situation!"

Glenn looked like he was going to protest, but Beth stopped him.

Rick quirked his brow "And mine can? Look, Karen, this situation is not what I want. I don't need this attention on Daryl and Beth right now. I need them to feel comfortable during their trial period, not pressured from the outside. This is _not _what I wanted."

Karen didn't budge "Then do something about it, Rick. You know I like working with you in this place, but I can't accept this situation."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Rick asked, his face severe. "I didn't call them, I didn't want them here"

"I want you to issue a statement. People are talking, the news that Zach isn't gonna compete anymore is out, and now they know about Daryl. The only way to make this better is for you to be honest with the press and give them what they want"

"It's too soon for that. I'm not gonna issue a statement before the trial period's over."

Beth sighed. She thought Karen was right, and she knew a statement was the best thing to do. At the same time though, announcing Daryl was her new partner when they still were unsure about it would have done more bad than anything, and if the trial period didn't work it would have been double as humiliating for her.

"We can't wait and stand this situation. You know rumours are gonna spread quickly, I can't even think about what the newspapers and blogs will say tomorrow."

Rick was staring at her looking angry, but the fact that he didn't have anything to say to her meant that he didn't have options.

Karen took a step towards him.

"Fix this. Fix this, or there will be consequences."

* * *

As soon as Karen left, Carol arrived, making her way through that human sea with her usual class. She was such a badass, and Beth really admired her for that. She didn't take anyone's bullshit, and she knew that if a paparazzi would have tried a mean move, she would have not hesitated to flip them off.

"This is a _nightmare_" she said, shaking her head "Is Daryl here already?"

"No, but I called him and told him to try and arrive from the backdoor" Rick replied, shaking his head.

Karen and Glenn had gone on the rink to start their training, while Beth and Rick sat in his office waiting and discussing the situation.

"Karen think we should issue a statement" Beth said, looking at Carol "What do you think about that?"

Carol sighed.

"I think she's right, but you're gonna have to talk to Daryl and make sure he's convinced and determined in doing this. We all know that he hates the press, you wanna be sure he's not gonna bail after this"

Rick nodded.

"We'll talk to him as soon as he arrives" he decided, looking resigned.

"Do you think… is he still gonna want to do this?" Beth asked. She hated the edge of desperation in her voice, but the truth was she really liked skating with Daryl, especially now that she had started becoming… friends with him, or at least she thought so. They were friends, right?

"We can only wait for him and hope he won't have changed his mind" Rick said, and to Beth's horror he didn't sounded convinced at all.

* * *

Daryl was fucking furious.

Not that he expected anything different from the people who had tormented him for years, digging into the past he so desperately wanted to leave behind.

Hell, he had known this was gonna happen since the moment he had accepted Rick's offer, but he still damn hated it. More than anything, he hated that their presence was gonna affect other people around him. Rick, and Carol, and _Beth._

His stomach clenched at the thought, and he felt so incredibly stupid.

How could you not have a crush on Beth Greene? She was sweet, and kind, and baked cookies for everyone, and she was such a hard worker and a talented skater. She had not complained once yesterday, enduring endless falls. She trusted him.

No one had ever trusted him like that, it hadn't been like that with Andrea. He and Beth had only skated together for a few days and she _trusted _him.

Her face had lightened up when he had brought her that balm, yesterday. The thought of her kissing his cheek made his neck burn and his stomach clench.

What the hell was he doing? He couldn't fall for her. Daryl Dixon didn't fall in love.

But how could you not fall in love with someone like Beth?

He told himself that the reason why he had come to training despite the paparazzi was that he wanted redemption, but he would be a damn liar if he didn't admit that a huge part of him coming back was so that he could see Beth, skate with her again, see her baby blues sparkle, her smile.

He pushed his way through the screaming journalists, suppressing the need to punch each and every one of them in the face, but he was furious at them for not minding their fucking business. He could already picture the things they were gonna write in their damn blogs, bashing him, and Beth, and Rick.

He hated them, but he was gonna try and deal with them, not letting them affect him. He was gonna try, 'cause Rick had trusted him, Beth was relying on him and he felt a sense of duty to them that he had never felt before.

* * *

"Daryl! Are you okay?" Beth, in her skates and warming up, jumped to her feet when she saw him enter. He looked pissed off, and he had every reason to.

"Hate those fuckers" he grunted.

Beth nodded, with a sigh.

"That was horrible, when I saw them out of my house, and here" she said, quietly.

"'m sorry"

"Daryl." She couldn't believe he constantly took the blame for everything. It was like this man had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

He looked at her, almost shyly.

"Daryl, it's _not_ your fault."

He didn't say anything, but he looked as unconvinced as always.

Rick walked up to them, and Lori was with him. As soon as Daryl saw her, he bowed his head, looking embarrassed for some reason.

Beth remembered Rick telling her that Lori had been so hurt when he had just quit the sport and pretty much vanished, and that she had been the first person to give him a chance in that world. Beth was ready to bet that they hadn't seen each other since.

"Hi, Daryl" she said, and she sounded kind and patience, as if she was talking to a kid that had misbehaved.

He looked at her, and the glimmer of hope that Beth saw in his eyes broke her heart.

"Hey" he said, almost a whisper.

Lori smiled at him and took a step towards him, hugging him.

He looked uncomfortable as hell, and stiff, but Lori didn't seem to care, as she told him "It's good to have you back"

Rick was smiling, but when the hug was over, his serious business face was back.

"So, I have talked to Lori, and Carol and our publicist, and we think the best thing is issuing a statement. I know we had decided to do it after the trial period, but now that the news has spread waiting could really damage us." He said, looking directly at Daryl.

Daryl didn't seem at all pleased with the news, putting on his usual frown, that had temporarily disappeared when Lori had hugged him.

"Why do we have t'issue a statement?" he asked, gruffly.

"Because people are gonna speculate, and it's bad for our image in front of the judges. You know they pay attention to this sort of stuff"

Daryl looked like he was gonna say something, but Beth interrupted him, putting a hand on his arm.

"I know it's soon" she said, softly "But I really think this is gonna work out" she declared. She felt herself blush, still thinking about that exchange last night.

Daryl was looking at her intensely, and his eyes were unreadable, as usual.

"I believe in.. in this thing. And if you want to, I'm ready to announce this to the public" she finished, her cheeks burning and her heart beating a bit faster.

What if he was gonna say no?

Why wasn't he saying anything?

Rick was looking at him, a bit worried himself. Lori's eyes, instead, kept shifting from her to Daryl, and she looked pleased with whatever it was she was seeing.

Slowly, Daryl nodded.

"Good. That's really good, man" Rick was smiling, and he went to them and put a hand on each of their shoulders "I'm happy to call you two my new team. Really" he said.

Daryl didn't say anything, but Beth could swear that his lips had twitched in what was almost a smile.

Lori looked absolutely thrilled.

"Rick has been telling me amazing things about you guys. Why don't you show me something?" she said, a warm smile that extended to her dark eyes.

"Yes!" Beth exclaimed, excitedly. She loved it when Lori came to training, giving precious suggestions, especially to her.

"Good. I'm gonna go call the press and issue a statement. We might have to hold a conference, later on, but for now it'll do."

"I doubt it's gonna keep the paparazzi away, but it might stop the speculations" Lori agreed.

Beth nodded, her stomach was still full of butterflies from Daryl deciding he wanted to be her new partner, and who knows how long for.

She was just happy he was gonna stick around.

* * *

"This choreography is gonna be beautiful when it's complete." Lori was sitting next to Beth on the benches. Rick had decided to work more on Daryl's jumps to make them sharper, and she was getting some rest.

"I know. Carol has really outdone herself. I can't wait 'til the Long Program is ready as well" Beth nodded in agreement, with a smile.

"That's true. It's not just that though" Lori said, staring at Daryl, skating in front of their eyes.

"What do you mean?" Beth asked, turning towards her.

"I mean that you and Daryl really do work together. When Rick first told me I thought he had gone crazy, but I see it now" Lori explained "Your styles are so different, I thought it was gonna be a disaster, but it's quite the contrary. You both are very emotional, raw skaters, and you give him that precision and grace, while he gives you that… _edge."_

Beth blushed, feeling strangely happy at her words.

"Do you really think so?"

"I do. And I see the way he followed your lead today, too. When you said you wanted him to be your skater." Lori said, now looking at her with knowing eyes.

Beth smiled embarrassed, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

"I guess things are getting better between us" she murmured.

"I can see that. I'm proud of you for not letting you scare you away" Lori said, placidly.

"You were right, you know. He… he is a good person. He just doesn't really know it." Beth said, a small smile on her face.

Lori smiled too "He really doesn't."

* * *

The statement was out, and Beth had started getting calls from newspapers, blogs, and family and friends too, and every single person asked her the same question: why Daryl Dixon, an unreliable retired skater with a terrible temper?

She didn't reply to the press, telling them they would have had to wait for the conference. To her friends and family, she said that she knew what she was doing and that they would have had to trust her.

Maggie hadn't been thrilled at the idea: ever since Beth had told her about the way Daryl had treated her on that very first day, she had decided she didn't trust him. All the negative stuff she had read about him online didn't help either, and Beth could only hope that when her sister came to visit she would have given Daryl a chance. Maggie could be really stubborn, and when she decided she didn't like someone it was really difficult to change her mind.

Surprisingly, Hershel had given Beth his full support.

"I trust your judgment, Bethy. And I trust Rick Grimes, too" he had said, simply.

Lying in bed that night, Beth couldn't stop thinking about that day's training. Lori had been enthusiastic of the way the Short Program was turning out, and she had murmured something in Rick's ear that had made both of them grin.

She had to admit, even though she was never fully satisfied with her work, being a perfectionist, even she could tell that the program had the potential to be great. She knew that she and Daryl worked together, that there was that x factor that you couldn't make up.

Beth came to the shocking realization that, despite them being a great team, all the years of training with Zach would have never given her that spark that was there with Daryl.

Skating with him was exciting, it was enchanting. Every time they flew on the ice together their eyes were locked, their bodies already in sinc, both of them feeling that same raw emotion in their performance.

She knew it was special. She knew that it could be great, even though now it was still at a very embryonal state.

Beth thinked about all of these things and she tried not to think about the way she was developing a crush on Daryl Dixon.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and please review if you liked it :) Hope to submit soon! :D**


	7. Progress

**I have the flu so I had a bit of time to write this :) I hope you all enjoy it! I am overwhelmed by the amount of reviews that this story is getting, and I just wanna thank each and everyone of you so much! I love you guys!**

* * *

Training was going more than well. The Short Program, even though it was still a bit rusty, was done. Now all they had to do was practicing it until it was absolutely perfect.

Beth loved that routine, the intensity of it: the throws, the lifts, the death spiral, they were all difficult and breath-taking, but that wasn't what she loved the most about it.

The choreography was beautiful, and performing it with Daryl was quickly becoming one of her favourite things.

It was incredible how such a private, closed off person like he was could become such an emotional, raw performer. His intensity astounded her, it took her breath away and it made her heart pound so fast that sometimes she wondered how she manage to keep skating.

It had been a week since the day they had issued the statement, the day when Daryl had decided to be her skating partner. They were starting to learn each other, and they worked really well together.

She now how protective he could get, and made it a point of always reassuring him that she trusted him, of showing him that she was comfortable skating with him. And she could tell that he was trying to control his temper, having noticed that it made her feel uncomfortable and it caused her to skate so much worse whenever he was in a bad mood, and that he was starting to trust her back.

By now, she had accepted that she had a crush on him.

There was nothing she could do to help it: he was handsome, but so shy and unaware of it. He was strong, and fiercely protective and now that he was losing the surly temper around her, she could see that he really was a very quiet person.

She couldn't help it that she had a crush on him, but she had decided she wasn't gonna acknowledge it. It wasn't because she thought Rick would disapprove, or anything. After all, Rick and Lori had started as partners and were now married with kids.

No, it wasn't because of that.

She just didn't wanna make things complicated now that they seemed to have found a balance. The press would have gone crazy; their personal business would have affected their performances. It's not like Daryl would have wanted _her_, anyway.

He was older, he was a man. A very handsome, intriguing man. She thought he was starting to like her as a friend, but she knew he was never gonna see her as more of his partner.

Looking at old pictures of him skating with Andrea and noticing just how beautiful his old partner was, she knew she just wasn't up to par. She wondered if they had ever had anything romantic going on, and if maybe that was the reason why he had just walked out on her.

In any case, she wasn't gonna do anything about her silly, school-girl crush apart from waiting for it to pass. In the meantime, she could relish in the feeling of his hands on her while they skated and let herself believe, even if just for a moment, that the burning desire she saw in his blue eyes when he looked at her during their routine was not just an act, but reality.

Wishful thinking, that was.

* * *

He was fucked.

He could just pray that Beth hadn't noticed the way he looked at her while they skated together. Normally, he managed to control himself, but when he skated he was completely exposed.

Skating had always been his one vehicle to let his feelings out, and that was turning out to be a damn curse.

When they were on the ice together, he couldn't hide. He couldn't hide the way his skin was on fire when he touched hers, that seemed made of porcelain. He couldn't keep his eyes away from hers. Her sweet smell tormented him, and her smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

He had never felt like this in his whole life. Hell, he used to make fun of Rick for the way he talked about Lori, but now he understood, for there was nothing he wanted more than kissing Beth Greene's perfect lips and holding her close to him forever. Fuck. He had never desired physical contact before. Sex, sure, but not this damn romance novel sort of shit.

He didn't know how to stop this, but he knew he had to.

Girls like Beth Greene didn't go out with men like him. All his life, he had never dared to _look _at a girl like her, let alone fall in love with one.

He knew what his place was. He had never dated anyone, 'cause he wasn't made for stuff like that. He had had sex with some beautiful women, but their beauty was loud and somewhat vulgar.

Beth was so delicate, and sweet, and kind. She deserved the kind of guy who wanted to take her out for a date at a nice restaurant, and she sure as hell didn't deserve someone like him.

He wasn't gonna do anything about it. Fuck no.

But when she smiled at him and sat next to him on the benches and had her lunch with him, or when she brought him baked goods, he could pretend, even just for a moment, that she liked him, too.

Wishful fucking thinking, that was.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I always get stuck here"

She was getting frustrated with herself: they were rehearsing the Short, and one of the lifts wasn't working properly, and it was her fault.

"'s okay."

Daryl's hoarse voice came from behind her. He put his hands on her waist and turned her around, gently.

"Let's try one more time. Ya gotta look at me, follow my lead" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. He was doing that more and more often now, touching her casually, and Beth wasn't gonna complain.

Rick reached her and gave her a few instructions before they tried again.

This time, her eyes staring into Daryl's, her whole body in complete sync with his, the lift was successful.

He put her down, and she could see that he had that smirk of his on his face, looking pleased and even a little proud.

She couldn't stop herself.

She skated towards him and threw her arms around him, with a cheerful sound.

"I made it! We made it!"

He cleared his throat, his hands circling her back lightly.

"Yeah, ya did" he murmured.

"COME ON GUYS!" Rick shouted from the side of the rink "Good job, now I want you to do the whole program from the top"

Beth took a step back. Daryl's ears were red, and he wouldn't look at her.

She smiled at him and reached to take his hand and gave it a squeeze before letting it go.

"Thank you"

They did the whole program again, and it was their best performance to date.

* * *

They were sitting in Carol's studio, and she was holding a CD in her hand.

"The Free Skate is ready. Before I walk you through the routine I want you to tell me what you think of the music. I have to say, as soon as I heard it, I thought it was perfect for the two of you."

She put the CD in the player, and Beth waited anxiously for the music to start.

She glanced at Daryl, and although he was trying to look disinterested she could tell that he was as curious as she was about this.

As soon as the first notes played, Beth jumped to her feet and ran towards Carol, hugging her.

"I LOVE THIS SONG! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she was jumping up and down excitedly, while Rick laughed. Daryl's lips twitched and he looked like he wanted to smile.

It was an Orchestra version of "Music of the Night", from the musical "Phantom of the Opera". Since she was a kid it had been her favourite musical, and she loved that song to pieces. She had begged Carol so many times to let her and Zach skate to it, but the choreographer had always refused.

She guessed her change of heart had something to do with Daryl.

After the first impact, Carol had grown to like him, and he seemed to be getting more and more comfortable around her too. Carol like to poke fun at him and he didn't seem to mind. Sometimes he even joked back.

Beth turned towards him.

"What do you think? _Please _tell me that you like it"

"Even if I didn't would that make any difference?" he asked, sardonically.

She shook her head no, sitting back next to him, and Carol showed them the choreography. If possible, it was even more beautiful than the Short: Carol really had to be inspired, these days.

* * *

Glenn was at her place, and they were watching a horror movie.

They used to do this all the time with Zach, but he had gone home to recover and spend time with his family, so it was just the two of them.

She had invited Daryl, but he had declined muttering some excuse. Beth tried not to feel a little hurt about that, reminding herself that he was not a people's person. Besides, she was perfectly comfortable with Glenn.

He was like a second brother to her, now that she was far away from Shawn. He wasn't as bossy as her real brother was, and he definitely was clumsier and goofier, but she loved him all the same.

"So is Maggie coming to visit anytime soon?" Glenn asked, unashamedly.

"She said she was gonna come before the qualifications, so hopefully she'll be here by the end of the month" she said. Glenn looked really excited about that. "You know, I told her she should go on a date with you."

Glenn stopped eating his pop-corn, looking shocked and a bit terrified.

"And… and what did she say? Did she say yes?"

"She said maybe. But that's good! We can work on that and make it become a yes" she smiled, winking at him with a conspiratorial look.

"Oh sweet Jesus. Wow. Wow. Okay, that's good."

"You genuinely look like you're having a panic attack" she laughed at him.

"Of course I'm having a panic attack! I have zero experience with actual women!"

"What, have you only dated aliens?" she joked, and Glenn elbowed her.

"No! You know how it is, I never have time. The only girls I dated were in high school and it was a disaster. Where am I even gonna take someone like your sister?" he sounded on the edge of a meltdown.

"Glenn" she put a hand on his arm "You need to relax. Maggie isn't some goddess, I'm sure she'll like whatever you decide you wanna do, okay? Just be yourself and it'll be fine"

He nodded, calming down a bit.

"Maybe not bowling though. Maggie hates bowling" she added, thoughtfully.

* * *

Her phone rang really early that morning, and she reached for it while she came out of the shower. It was Rick.

"Hello?" she answered, a bit worried.

"Hey Beth, did I wake you up?"

"No, I just finished showering. What's going on?"

"We need to have that press conference sooner than I thought." He said, and she could tell he definitely wasn't pleased about it. Rick hated the press, but he was incredibly good in conferences. He just had this authoritative air about him that always seemed to charm journalists.

"Why? Has something bad happened?"

"Nothing major. Just the competition taking advantage of the situation"

"Who?" she asked, but she already knew the answer.

"I just read an interview this morning. Andrea Harrison talks about how sorry she feels for you that your only choice was a retired, unreliable skater. Says she hopes you can find someone else for the _next _Olympics"

"What a witch" Beth muttered, under her breath.

Andrea Harrison was a coach now. After her retirement, she and Philip Blake had become trainers of a new, promising couple: Amy Harrison, Andrea's little sister, and Shane Walsh, an older skater who had been Lori's partner before Rick was. Rick hated him, and he wasn't particularly fond of Philip either. She guessed that extended to Andrea, now.

Anyway, Amy and Shane were a really great couple, and they had come in second at the last National Championship. They were Beth and Daryl's main competition, together with Rosita Espinosa and her brother, Carlos.

"Yeah, you could say that. You and Daryl are coming over for dinner tonight after training, so we can discuss how to approach the media"

"Okay. I'll see you at the rink in a bit, then"

"Drive safe."

* * *

If Daryl had been affected by what Andrea had said, he hid it well.

They had started putting together the Free skate, and Beth was loving every minute of it. She liked working with Carol, loving the way the older woman could create something so beautiful out of nowhere and then give it life using their bodies as her instruments.

Carol seemed enthusiastic as well, which wasn't something you saw everyday.

After a long, intense training, Daryl and Beth had driven to the Grimes', where Lori had prepared them a nice dinner.

As they sat at the table, Beth noticed the way Carl eyed at Daryl, a mixture of intimidation and awe. What surprised her the most though was the way Daryl held Judith after Lori handed her to him.

After a moment of stiffness, he started rocking her in his strong, muscular arms, and the baby seemed immediately won over by him, making happy little sounds and reaching for his face. He was a natural at that too, it seemed, and Beth thought she was gonna pass out at the sight.

Dinner was nice, and Beth was glad Daryl was finally doing something with the rest of them. She loved seeing him and getting to know him outside the rink. She had the feeling it was a privilege that few people were accorded.

When they finished and Carl was reluctantly sent to bed, Rick discussed his strategy with them.

"It's simple. We keep it short and we tell the truth. Beth, the press loves you, you know what to do. Be spontaneous, and if they bring up Andrea's comments just say that it's her opinion and you respect that. Nothing more."

Beth nodded, glancing towards Daryl. He seemed a bit tense now.

"As for you, Daryl-"

"Lemme guess. I shouldn't be spontaneous"

Beth laughed softly, and so did Rick.

"Well, yeah. I'm not saying you should lie" he clarified "All I'm saying is, whatever shit they come up with to get a reaction out of you, don't react. Keep to the plan and it'll go fast and smooth"

Daryl looked as if he had doubts about the 'smooth' part, but he agreed.

As they walked back to their cars after having said goodbye to Rick and Lori, Beth couldn't help asking.

"Did it bother you? What Andrea said?"

They were in front of her car now, and he was standing right in front of her.

"Nah. 's the truth" he answered, with a shrug.

"You know I really am happy with this arrangement, right?"

He didn't answer, so she continued.

"Whatever reason you had to quit… I trust you that you're not gonna do that to me" she said, and she believed it.

"I would never do that to you. And Rick" he said, quietly.

Beth nodded, and she put a hand on his arm. Daryl stared at it for a moment before looking at her.

"I know" she said, fervently "I trust you, Daryl"

He looked like he was gonna say something, but then he decided against it and started walking towards his truck after a gruff 'goodnight'.

He was almost there when Beth couldn't resist asking him one more question.

"Why did you quit, five years ago?"

He was silent for a while, and then shook his head.

"Doesn't matter anymore. Not gonna bail on ya" he said, and with that, Beth knew the conversation was over.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed this last chapter! If anyone is interested in listening to the music for the LP, it's "Phantasia - Music of the Night" on youtube :) Review\follow if you liked it! And if you wanna be friends, I'm on tumblr: francescadb is my url! I hope to update soon **


	8. Trust

**I'm SO sorry about the long wait. This days are really messy and stressful and I'm focusing on not having a meltdown. I'm so humbled and grateful for all the reviews for last chapter, and although I'm having a rough week I hope this doesn't disappoint too much Thank you so much for reading!**

* * *

They were halfway through training that morning when Michonne showed up.

Beth really liked her, even though the physiotherapist used to intimidate her quite a bit at first, with her firm voice and falcon-like eyes. Getting to know her better, though, she had learned to really appreciate her, not only because she was great at her job, but because she was a good person.

"Short Program's looking good, Rick" was the first thing she said after the music stopped and the skaters and coach noticed her presence.

"You like it?" Rick asked her, giving her a hug.

She nodded before looking at Daryl and staring at him for a good moment. He seemed uncomfortable, but he held her eyes.

"You" she addressed him "Didn't you think that maybe after years of inactivity it would have been a good idea to get yourself checked?"

Daryl shrugged, but Beth knew Michonne wasn't gonna have none of that.

"I want you to come and get yourself checked today after training" she said, an authoritative tone in her voice that didn't leave much space to a negative answer.

Daryl grunted something that Michonne interpreted as a yes, but the woman wasn't done.

"That counts for you as well, Beth. It's been almost three weeks since your last check-up, you know you need more than that, with your ankle especially"

Daryl's head snapped towards Beth, and she knew she was in trouble.

"What's with your ankle, girl?" he asked, barely managing to hide the nervous edge of his voice.

"Nothing. It just… A couple years ago I had an accident during a throw and sometimes it hurts a bit" she said, voice small.

"An' you didn' tell me?!" Daryl sounded pretty mad, as his eyes darted from her to Rick, who didn'd dare looking at him.

"It's nothing major…"

"Y' didn' think I wanted to know last week when we tried all those throws?" Daryl snapped, looking more and more menacing.

Beth didn't know what to say, so she just looked at the ground mumbling some apologies.

Michonne was looking at them with one brow arched "It seems like you all need to talk. I'll see you tonight. _Both _of you."

Once she had left, Rick took a step towards Daryl.

"Look, Daryl…"

"Let's train" was all he said, grunting.

He turned around, and headed towards the ice.

* * *

The training had been a disaster.

Apparently, Daryl was a pretty emotional skater, because when nothing had seemed to work once he was pissed off.

The choreography was sloppy, the throws ended up with Beth falling more than a couple times, which seemed to piss him off even further.

By the end of the day Rick was exasperated, and sent both skaters to Michonne's earlier then they should have gone.

Beth didn't know what to do, she understood that Daryl's anger came out of concern, but really she didn't think it was such a big deal: nothing had happened to her and nothing was going to happen either, under Michonne's care.

Now they were both sitting in the waiting room, early, and the silence between them weighted a thousand pounds. Beth didn't know what to do, but she knew she hated conflict and she had to do something about this or she was gonna go crazy.

She couldn't accept Daryl not talking to her after all the progress they had made.

"Daryl?"

No reply.

"Daryl. Are you not gonna talk to me until the Olympics? Cause that's a long time of not talking, you know"

Still nothing, but she could see his eyes glancing towards her a couple times, although his face was unreadable.

"Daryl, please"

"How could ya think it wasn' important t'tell me ya have an injured ankle?" he asked, and she could sense the anger in his voice.

"I know. I'm _sorry. _But my ankle hasn't given me problems in a long, long time. I just thought-"

"Well ya thought _wrong."_

He was looking at her now, fully turned towards her.

She probably should have been scared, or at least intimidated, but in fact she felt like she wanted to smile sweetly at him. He was so outraged that he hadn't been informed, and it was all out of concern for her: in fact, she thought it was kinda cute.

She timidly smiled at him.

"I'm sorry, okay? Besides…"

"What?"

She thought really well about what she wanted to say. It probably wasn't gonna help her deal with him, but she felt like it was something she needed to get out.

"Besides, it's not as if you've told me everything about your past as a skater."

The moment the words left her mouth, she saw how much of a bad move that had been, from the way his blue eyes flashed. Still, she didn't regret it. She trusted him, but she didn't want him to keep secrets from her. Not secret this big and that could affect her deeply.

"That's _none _of yer business, girl" he hissed, through bared, gritted teeth.

"It is though. You _know _it is. You know they're gonna ask about it at the press conference, and I won't have any idea what to say. And I wanna know, Daryl. I wanna know what happened."

Without saying a word, Daryl got up and moved to leave. He was almost out of the door when he turned around, a deadly cold stare in his eyes.

"I thought ya said ya trusted me."

His voice was icy, and Beth felt the cold flow through her as well. And she felt guilty.

Sure, she wanted to know, but maybe he wasn't ready. They barely knew each other, after all. She was a nobody to him.

All the feelings she had while skating with him, her stupid crush, none of it entitled her to ask anything about his life. They weren't friends, he didn't owe her any explanation.

She got up, panic rising into her and blatantly audible in her voice.

"Daryl, wait, I didn't mean-"

But he was gone.

* * *

The Rolling Stones were blasting in Daryl's hotel room.

He was so fucking pissed right now that Mick Jagger's voice was really all the human contact he could stand.

First, Beth hadn't told him about her ankle being a delicate spot for her, and, Christ, wasn't that something he should have known before putting her at risk by throwing her on the ice with new strength and speed and height?

He had been so damn worried that day, and it could've ended with tiny Beth Greene fuckin' destroying her ankle because of him.

What the hell was she thinking? And Rick, too.

But he was gonna forgive her.

Sitting in Michonne's waiting room, she had said sorry and given him that tiny, sweet smile that made her baby blues look bigger, and he was a goner.

Butterflies or whatever the hell that was that he felt in his stomach and all that.

But then.

Then she had said that thing and he felt like such a fucking moron.

He had believed her when she had told him that she trusted him. For the first time in his whole life he had _really _believed it. When he was with Andrea, she was always waiting for him to screw up, like he eventually had, but when Beth Greene, with her sweet smile, had told him that she trusted him, he had believed her.

It scared him just how easily he had believed it was true, especially now that he knew it wasn't. Hell, had he been fucking wrong.

But she had been there, all smiles and big eyes and sweet smell, telling him she trusted him and he had fallen for it like a damn idiot.

Being with Beth was easy, as easy as breathing. She was kind, and smart, and beautiful. She had never treated him like some sort of wild animal she had to tame, and there was no denying that he liked her, at least to himself.

Skating with her was exciting, but being in her presence was a blessing he knew damn well he didn't deserve. Which was probably what she had realized herself, deciding he wasn't to be trusted.

He was so absorbed in his messy thoughts of Beth, that it took him a while to hear the pounding at his door. Rick was probably mad at him for skipping Michonne's check up, but he didn't give a shit. Rick was not in the list of his favourite people right now. No one was.

He opened the door, ready to tell him to go fuck himself, but in front of him was little Beth Greene.

For a moment, he was surprised that such a small girl could pound so loudly on the door, but then again, Beth was much stronger than she looked.

"I'm not leaving until we get through this" she announced, and she looked so cute trying to be determined.

Daryl shook his head: how could he be mad at her and find her cute at the same time? How the hell was he supposed to win this?

Without a word, he let her in, 'cause he knew from the start there was no way he was gonna be able not to.

He closed the door behind him and stared at her, crossing his arms in front of him and reminding himself that she had told him she trusted him when it was a _lie. _

Beth stared back at him, from the other side of the room, looking calm and determined.

"We need to talk about things, Daryl. You can't just storm off whenever you don't like something" she began, and her patient tone was stupidly irritating.

"I can do whatever the hell I want, girl."

"Stop calling me girl! You never have before and I don't like it. I'm not just some girl, and I'm your partner, so we need to deal with this things."

She was starting to get mad as well, but he wasn't gonna budge, no matter how tempting it sounded.

"One hell of a partner ya are" he said, sharply.

"Daryl, I'm sorry about the ankle. I know I should have told you-"

"Hell yeah ya should have!"

He didn't mean to raise his voice, but he couldn't help himself. Immediately though, he feared he was gonna scare her, just like his dad used to scare him when he shouted.

If she was scared, though, she didn't show it. She waited a second, and then she continued.

"I'm also sorry about the way I said that thing about your past." He opened his mouth to say something, but she continued "However, I am _not _sorry for wanting to know."

She took a couple steps in his direction, and he felt himself tense, his heart beating faster for no particular reason.

"I want to get to know you Daryl. And I mean _really _know you. We're partners now, we are a family. And being part of a family means we tell each other the things that matter, and I think that knowing the reason why you quit matters."

Beth was almost in front of him now, looking at him fervently, and Daryl felt himself holding his breath.

"It's okay if you don't wanna tell me yet, though" she said, quietly. "I'll wait."

And just like that, he believed her again.

He was gonna fucking hate himself for it in the future, he knew that, but he just couldn't help it. All his life, he had been really good at calling bullshit and recognize when people lied to him. Hell, he had been lied to all his life. But he just couldn't help thinking that Beth Greene was different, maybe because she was.

He didn't know what to say, so instead, he nodded slowly, never letting his eyes look anywhere else but her.

She seemed relieved, and she blushed a little when she realised how close she had gotten during her speech.

Clearing her throat, she took a step back, and started fidgeting with the straps of her bag.

"So, uhm… I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Gotta make up for today's shitty practice" he heard himself say, and she smiled.

God, it had to be the most beautiful smile in the whole fucking world, and it was there just for him. Suddenly, he realized all he wanted was to get her to smile for him again, and again, and again…

"I'm surprised Rick hasn't ditched us yet" Beth said, with a giggle.

He felt the corners of his mouth pulling, he felt like he wanted to smile, too, with her.

"Nah. We're his only chance. Man's stuck with us."

Beth nodded, and after a second she started walking towards the door.

She was about to leave, but she turned around and, her blue eyes looking right at him, she murmured:

"I hope that one day you can trust me, too."

And with that, she disappeared, leaving him staring at the door like an idiot for five good minutes, trying to make sense of it all.

* * *

**So! A lot of Beth and Daryl in this chapter! Next we'll have the Press Conference, then Maggie's visit and then the Qualifications! Exciting times :) If you liked it please review! It'll cheer me up during this stressful times xx**


	9. Press

**So, I'm really sorry about how slowly the new chapters are coming in! It's just a really, really busy period for me, so be patient :) Thank you so so so much to everyone who's reviewing and following, it means so much! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

"I can't wait for you to see the new programs, Mags. They are_ unbelievable, _and did I tell you that Carol picked a song from The Phantom of the Opera?"

"Only like thirty times."

Maggie was giggling, on the phone with her while Beth was getting ready to go to the rink.

After her fight and make up with Daryl, everything had gotten back to normal: not only that, but training was going better than ever and Daryl had finally started joining the rest of them for lunch, even though he sat there saying barely anything.

"I'm sorry! But when you'll see it you'll understand why I'm so excited about it, I promise."

"I'm sure it's great, Bethy. So, how are you feeling about tomorrow?"

"So nervous. I hope I won't faint or screw up somehow."

The press conference had finally been set, their public debut in competition being less than a month away now, and Beth had been having nightmares about it for the past few days.

"You're not gonna screw up honey. You're amazing at that kind of stuff, journalists and newspaper have always absolutely loved you!"

"Yeah, but that was before Daryl became my new partner. They hate him, Mags. You've read the sort of stuff they write about him!" Beth felt sick only thinking about it, so she tried desperately not to.

"You seem to like this guy, and Rick does too. If they question your judgement you just flip them off and leave" Maggie said, firmly.

"Yeah, _right. _Cause that's a great way to face the press. Why don't I just pull a Tom Cruise and start jumping on a couch next, that way I'll be sure my reputation is completely dead."

Maggie sighed.

"Sometimes I really don't envy you, having to be this careful with what you say in public."

"I know, it's not the best."

"Yeah. But look, I think you still have to stick up for yourself though, especially if they start asking mean questions. I'm sure daddy would agree with me, apart from the flipping them off thing."

Beth smiled. She was glad she had such a supporting family, especially in moments like this: she knew that no matter what was gonna happen in the conference, or during competition, they would always have her back.

Suddenly, she wondered if Daryl's family was like that, or if he even _had _a family. Since the day they met she had never heard him mention any of his family members, not even once.

It had to be horrible, not having that kind of support system.

"Beth? Are you still with me?"

Maggie voice brought her back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Look, I gotta go, but I'll text you later! Have a good day!"

"You too, little sis. And don't stress too much about the conference, okay?"

"I'll try my best."

* * *

Lori had come to the ice rink the following day, as a moral support for the press conference they were gonna hold in a few hours.

Daryl and Beth were wearing matching tracksuits sponsored by Adidas. The company hadn't been enthusiastic when Daryl had joined Beth as a partner, but the publicist had pulled some strings and the sponsorship had been maintained, luckily.

Daryl looked like he wanted to be literally anywhere else but there, and Beth saw Lori sitting next to him in the empty room, where everything was set for the conference, and starting talking to him.

She couldn't hear what the woman was telling him, but she could guess that they were encouraging words: it was what Rick and Lori Grimes did best, encouraging people, motivating them.

"Hey."

Glenn gave her a playful bump with his shoulder.

"Hey back."

"You know you'll be fine, right?" Glenn asked, looking at her with a serious expression on his face.

"Everyone keeps telling me that, and that's making me worry even _more, _if that's possible."

"Sorry, I'm sure it must suck."

"A bit." Beth took a long, deep breath before talking again. "I just know that they're gonna try and make us say something that they can use against us. Especially with Daryl, and he's so uncomfortable during interviews, he really hates them."

"That doesn't surprise me" Glenn said, a small smile "And I think they'll pick on him as well. If they do though, you can step in."

Beth looked at him, feeling very uncertain.

"Can I? I don't think he would appreciate being defended by… well, by me."

She blushed a little, and hoped that Glenn wouldn't pick up on it.

"I think you're wrong. And remember that Carol, Karen and I will be here supporting you guys. And Lori, too. I'm pretty sure if any of them acts too rude Carol will literally rip their head off."

Beth laughed a little, and Glenn giggled too, before giving her a hug.

"You go up there and conquer them, Beth."

* * *

"Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for being here."

Sasha, who had been their publicist and dealt with sponsor and contracts since day one, was there to guide the conversation. The night before, she had sent them a very detailed email reminding them of what they had to say and, especially, what they didn't have to say.

Beth liked Sasha, and she trusted that she was gonna make things smoother for them than they would have been without her.

She just hoped that Daryl had read the email, too. He was sitting next to her, Rick being on her other side, and she could actually see his hands fidgeting under the desk and she could sense just how tense his body was.

Ready for the attacks. Ready to defend himself.

She saw this, but she was sure that to anyone else in the room apart from maybe Lori, he just seemed angry and ready to attack.

She realized that was the same exact impression she had had too during that first day, and she wondered whether he had been nervous in that instance too, and she just hadn't known.

"We will take a maximum of twenty-five questions today. Sir, you're first."

Sasha pointed at a bald guy sitting in the front row, and he stood up.

"Thank you. So Daryl, what made you decide to un-retire and come back to the sport after five years? And do you think you are physically able to handle the rhythms that skating at such a high level demands?"

Daryl stared at the guy as if he was going to shoot an arrow through his eyes. After some seconds, when Beth could sense Rick's panic, he replied.

"Rick asked me if I wanted t'skate with Beth, an' I said yes. An' if my body wasn' ready t'handle this, I wouldn' be doin' it" he grunted, an edge of menace in his tone.

The guy turned towards Rick.

"Mr Grimes, why did you decide to call a retired skater instead of a younger, in better shape one? Was there no one else willing to join your team?"

Beth glanced at Rick, and now he looked like he was gonna be the one to kill the guy. But he answered smoothly, and with a polite smile as usual. Somehow, that made him look even more dangerous.

"I asked Daryl because I knew that he still had something to give to this sport, and after a short trial period we agreed that he was perfectly capable of competing at high levels in this sport. I never even thought about asking anyone else" he answered, firmly.

The bald guy looked like he was gonna ask something to Beth as well, but Sasha called a different reporter, and Beth was very grateful for that. This time, a blonde woman got up.

"So Beth, what did you think when Rick told you that you were gonna skate with Daryl Dixon? Did you have any reservations because of his reputation?"

Beth took a deep breath, and saw Glenn giving her a thumbs up in the audience.

"I was surprised at first, but I trust Rick and his judgement. And when Daryl and I started skating together I saw how right Rick was, and I'm glad I trusted him. I don't care about what people have said and written about Daryl: he is an incredible skater and a really nice person to work with."

She was satisfied with her answer, and she could tell from Lori's smile that she was too.

Sasha pointed to a different reporter, a pretty young guy.

"What did you guys think about Andrea Harrison's comments about the choice of having Daryl skate with Beth?"

Rick, knowing that Daryl wasn't gonna answer first and wanting to start this the right way, answered first.

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. We are very happy with our choice. We wish Andrea and her team the best season possible, and just wish to give them a good competition to skate against."

"Beth?"

"I agree with what Rick said. Andrea is entitled to her opinion, and that's okay. All that matters to me is that I'm happy with my team and I am."

"And Daryl? Do you want to comment on that?" the guy asked, expectantly.

"No" was Daryl's harsh reply. Beth turned towards him, a bit worried, and he seemed to notice that, cause he reluctantly added: "If that's what she thinks, 's good for her. I don't care."

Beth tried not to sigh. It would have been better if he hadn't said anything.

Sasha hurriedly called a different reporter.

"Beth, you seem very confident in having Daryl as your new partner. How has training been going so far? How are you guys getting along? And can you tell us your thoughts on what happened to Zach?"

"What happened to Zach was a terrible accident, and uhm… my heart still breaks thinking about it. He's a great friend and an amazing person, and I'm sure he'll be successful at whatever comes next for him. As for skating with Daryl, at first we had to learn how to work together, obviously, and to adapt our skating techniques to each other. It was hard work, but like I said before, he is a really nice person and he is very hard working. I like skating with him and I hope you will like our new programs for this season."

"Daryl, why did you decide to retire years ago and what's changed now? What made you think 'I can do this, I can come back'?"

Beth kept her eyes on the desk in front of her, tensing up in waiting for Daryl's reply. She just prayed he wasn't gonna blow up.

"Had my reasons to quit years ago" he said, quietly. His tone, not angry or threatening, surprised Beth and made her finally look at him. "I came back 'cause Beth's an amazing skater, and Rick's a great coach an' a friend, an' they're both good people. Can't get much better 'n that."

She could feel Rick's sigh of relief, and she couldn't hold back a smile.

From then on, the questions became more technical and less threatening, and the rest of the conference seemed to flow fast, the last question being whether they thought they had a shot at going to Sochi with only one year to prepare.

Rick replied firmly that if he hadn't believed that they could make it to Sochi, he wouldn't have formed this new team.

Then, it was over. They had made it.

* * *

After the conference, they had all gone out for dinner to celebrate, picking a sushi restaurant because the athletes couldn't eat anything that wasn't allowed on the diet.

Sasha had complimented them, and Beth could see how relieved she looked: she definitely hadn't thought that they could have handled it this well.

If she had to be honest, she was very surprised too. Of herself, because she usually got pretty shy during interviews, while this time she had managed to say what she thought with confidence, even when it came to the trickier questions.

Most of all, though, she was really surprised with the way Daryl had answered to the reporters. Sure, at first he had come off surly and harsh as usual, but the way he had replied to that question about leaving and coming back had surprised.

She was absorbed into her thoughts, still sitting at the table with the others, when she noticed that Daryl, who was sitting at the corner of the table next to her, was looking at her.

She smiled at him, blushing a bit, and his eyes went to the plate before looking back at her.

No one was paying attention to them, all too busy celebrating, and so no one could hear him when he leaned over and told her, a gruff whisper:

"Thanks for what ya said 'bout me. I, uh… I really 'preciate it."

She smiled, seeing his ears turning red while his eyes were staring into hers.

"That's what we do. We're a family now, and what you said about me and Rick was really nice too."

"Meant it."

She nodded, and was about to turn towards the others because she was starting to get butterflies and didn't know how to handle it, when he put a hand on her wrist, lightly, and she turned to look at him again.

"I trust ya too. Just wanted ya to know it" he said, an intense look in his strikingly blue eyes.

Beth blushed furiously and when he noticed his hand was still on her wrist he pulled it away fast, the back of his neck turning red, too.

That day just couldn't have been more perfect.

* * *

**So! the Conference is over, and soon we'll have Maggie visiting and then the very first competition! I'm really excited about it and scared about writing the skating scenes! But we'll finally meet the competition :) Please review if you liked it, and I'll try and update as soon as possible!**


	10. Maggie

**Hey everyone! More than 100 reviews, that's so amazing and I wanna thank each and everyone of you for it :) You guys make me wanna write better! In this chapter Maggie finally arrives! I hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

"That was wonderful guys, really. I'm so impressed with how little time it took you to get to this level with your Short Program"

Rick approached them, catching their breath after having performed the Short once again that afternoon. He had a huge smile on his face, and Beth knew that could only mean he was really satisfied with the results.

Carol followed him, a big smile on her face as well.

"He's right. That was quite something else" she said, nodding.

Beth could barely hold her excitement, jumping up and down, and she glanced at Daryl to see if he felt as happy as she did.

As always, he didn't show any emotion on his face, but she could tell by the slight upturn of his lips that he was feeling it too.

"Take five, and then we'll keep working on the Long" Rick told them.

The Phantom choreography was stunning, but they had started working on it quite late, and despite the fact that they had focused on it after the Conference, a week ago, they were a bit behind with it.

Their first competition was barely three weeks away, and the pressure was starting to make Beth nervous. She wished Daryl would open up to her, so that she would know she wasn't alone in this.

They both skated to the edge of the rink, and went to sit on the benches drinking generous amounts of water. They were often silent when they were alone together, but Beth liked it.

It wasn't a tense, embarrassed silence like it had been in their first few days together: it was comfortable, it was _comforting. _

She looked at him, and she couldn't help but noticing how handsome he was, like always. The slightly tan skin, blue eyes and rugged dark hair, his strong arms. And what made him all the more beautiful to her was, he had no idea that he was.

He noticed her staring at him and he turned towards her. Beth smiled at him, before looking down towards the rink.

"Do you think we'll be ready on time for the qualification cup?" she asked, pensively.

"Mhh"

"Daryl. Don't 'mmh' me. Tell me what you think" she reprimanded him gently.

He didn't answer for a while, just looking at Glenn skating on the ice, elegant as always.

"We'll be ready" he said, in a low, gruff voice.

"How do you know?" Beth couldn't help but ask, and she found herself looking at him again.

"Cause 'm willin' to train all night 'til the competition starts, if we hav'ta. An' I know y'are too" Daryl replied, simply.

Beth gave him a small smile, feeling reassured. He didn't look at her, but she could swear he had leaned in a little bit closer.

* * *

He hadn't been too far from reality saying he was willing to work all night. Rick seemed determined to have them know the Long Program choreography by heart by the end of the day, and they had been training way past the usual time.

He could tell Beth was tired, could see it in the way he had to hold her a little tighter during lifts 'cause she didn't have that much energy left, and he could feel her slipping a bit. He could see it in the curve of her shoulders and neck, and in the paleness of her face.

He had believed it when he had told her they could make it. He would have never lied to her.

At the same time, he was fucking terrified at the idea of being the one letting her down.

Hell, all his life he had never wanted to win for anyone but him. It had always been his personal revenge against the son of a bitch of fate that had dealt him a shitty family and a horrible childhood.

Not anymore. Sure, he wanted redemption, but he knew he would be fine if it didn't happen. What he wouldn't be fine with would be seeing Beth Greene losing because of him.

Him of all people, Daryl fucking Dixon, wanted to win to make a girl happy.

She wasn't just any girl, though. No, Beth Greene was everything he had never dared to want for himself, and now that he had fallen he didn't know if there was a way out of this damn mess.

What was crazier, Beth didn't put him any kind of pressure: he felt completely comfortable and at ease in her presence. When she was frustrated, she didn't take it out on him or anyone else.

"Let's do the second half once more and then we can all go home and rest" Rick said, firmly.

Daryl immediately looked at Beth, studying her to see if she was gonna be able to do this.

As they skated towards the centre of the rink, he put a hand on her arm, and she looked at him with those big blue doe-like eyes.

"Y' okay? 'f you're tired we can tell Rick we'll do this tomorrow" he said, seriously.

She gave him a tired smile "I'm okay, I can do this. I need to get over the tiredness if we're gonna train every night until the Cup" she said, with a smirk on her face "Or are _you_ too tired, Mr. Dixon?" she asked, smugly.

He tried to ignore the shiver that the nickname sent through his body and nudged her lightly.

"Smartass"

Rick's voice interrupted the conversation, and they started skating. Beth was giving it her all, and he couldn't help but feel admired of her determination.

He would have never said it out loud, but he really liked this choreography, and even if the music was musical theatre shit he found himself liking that too. He had to admit it, Carol was damn good at her job.

They finished, and he had to hold Beth's arm to make sure she didn't just fall asleep on the spot.

"Good job. Great job, you're really starting to be in synch with the music the way I want to" Rick told them, patting his back, as they left the ice.

"I really love this program, Rick" Beth was saying, "I can't wait to pick the costumes and-"

She stopped dead in her tracks, and Daryl followed her eyes to try and figure out what was it that had made her lose the ability to speak.

On the benches, some stairs above them, was a tall, brunette girl. She was staring at Beth with a grin and her eyes sparkling.

"I come visit you and you're not home. Is this how you treat family, Bethy?" the girl, who Daryl assumed was Beth's sister, asked.

"MAGGIE!" Beth squealed, and she seemed to have forgotten that she was exhausted because she flew in her sister's arms, and the two of them started screaming and jumping, hugging each other.

And, Daryl didn't know why, but he felt a pang of jealousy at the idea that Maggie was here. He thought of Merle, gone. He thought about the family he didn't have, and about the fact that Beth was probably the pupil of her folks.

He shook his head, feeling like a complete, fucking jerk.

* * *

"You were right, Bethy, that choreography looks really cool"

Maggie and Beth were lying next to each other on Beth's queen-sized bed, eating marshmallows and watching some random romantic comedy, but really all they were doing was talking and catching up. Beth had missed her sister so much, her lively and mischievous temper, her really loud laugh, and how they could talk about _anything_ with each other.

"And you haven't seen anything yet! I can't wait for you to be at the rink tomorrow! Oh my gosh, Glenn's literally gonna die. He will probably break something trying to impress you!" Beth laughed to herself thinking about her friend's reaction, and Maggie giggled too.

"I really need to have some fun scaring this guy" she said, shoving a marshmallow in her mouth. "Also. Daryl didn't seem very friendly- he basically frowned at me and barely shook my hand."

Beth sighed. Why did Daryl had to make that awful first impression on everyone?

"I know. I thought he was so rude when I first met him, but you just have to get to know him! He can be very sweet when he wants to" she explain, and as soon as she did she highly regretted her choice of words.

As expected, Maggie was already grinning.

"Oh, _can he?" _

Beth felt herself blush and tried to babble something in her defence.

"I mean… what I _mean _is that he's not as uh… as rude as he seems, you know. He can be a nice person when he tries, you know."

Maggie just stared at her, with her don't-try-to-fool-me look. And it always worked: Beth always broke under her sister's stare.

"Don't judge me, Mags" she said, voice small.

Maggie smiled then, pinching her cheek.

"Never. And I've seen his arms. Plus, everyone has had a crush on the bad guy, it's perfectly normal. Just… is it a crush, or do you actually _like _this guy?"

Beth fell quiet for a few minutes. At first, she had thought it was a crush, but now… now she knew it was much more than that. She had fallen for Daryl, no matter how surly and gruff he could be. She had seen the kind, protective person under the shield, and she had fallen for him, hard.

"I think I do" she murmured, burrowing her face in a pillow.

Maggie put a hand on her shoulder.

"Bethy, you don't have to be ashamed of it! It's not uncommon at all, just look at Rick and Lori! I mean, Daryl doesn't seem a charmer to me, but I'm sure there's a reason you like him. You're a level headed person, sis, much more than I am"

Beth felt a wave of relief washing over her, and lifter her head to look at Maggie.

"Really, you don't think I'm being stupid?"

Maggie nodded, an encouraging smile on her face.

"I would never think you're stupid, Bethy. _But, _I have to tell you, you gotta be careful about this. You're gonna have to skate with him for at least another year and a half, and if anything happened between you, it would make things much more complicated" she said, a calm voice.

Beth laughed sarcastically at that.

"Maggie. Nothing's ever gonna _actually _happen. I'm pretty sure Daryl sees me as some little girl. He even called me a princess Barbie, remember?"

"Don't be silly. He would be a complete and total idiot if he didn't like you back. Especially with the temper he has and the reputation he has. Plus, I saw the way he was looking at you when you were skating, and even before that."

Beth tried to put at bay the wave of hopefulness that completely filled her at Maggie's last affirmation.

"What… what do you mean?" she asked, attempting not to sound as desperate as she was feeling.

"Oh, Bethy. You were always so oblivious when it came to boys."

And with that, Maggie refused to say anything more.

* * *

Beth had purposefully avoided telling Glenn that Maggie had arrived, and she couldn't wait for his reaction. She was also hoping that during lunch Daryl showed her sister a more civil side of himself, but for that she wasn't getting her hopes up.

She parked her car in front of the rink, and they got off. Jaqui greeted them warmly, and they made their way to the rink. Beth had decided to go in a little early, so they could surprise Glenn better.

"Okay, I'm gonna go change super quick, just wait for me here!" she told Maggie, and her sister nodded sitting on one of the lower benches.

Beth rushed to the locker rooms, and did her best to change as quickly as she could, and then she sprinted back to the rink.

She opened the door, but she stopped when she heard voices.

"So, Glenn. I hear you wanna go on a date with me."

Beth had to put her hands on her mouth to avoid bursting into a laugh. Glenn had arrived, and Maggie was standing right in front of him, her arms crossed and her best icy cold expression on her face.

Glenn was as red as a tomato, and he looked completely out of words.

"I…I uhm, I mean… no, I never said that, but… yeah"

"Oh, so you don't wanna go out with me?"

Poor Glenn. Maggie could be really intimidating when she wanted to.

"Yes! Yes of course I… of course I wanna go, I mean, if _you _want to… do you? Want to?"

"Are you asking me out, Glenn? After we've only met for what, a minute?"

Beth was about to go out there and save him when Daryl's gruff voice behind her made her jump, and blush a little.

"Your sister's the devil, Greene. She's givin' the guy one hell of a hard time" he looked very amused, and he shook his head "Kid's not tough enough t'handle it."

Beth smiled "I think he can make it" she replied, while both of them went back to spying from behind the door.

"I mean, I… yes?" Glenn was blabbing.

"So is that how you ask me out?"

"No. No, you're right, uh… will you go out with me?" he finally said, and he was starting to sweat and he looked like he was about to cry, or faint.

Beth really hoped that Maggie was gonna say yes, and she waited anxiously for her answer.

"Okay. I will. Come pick me up tonight at 8 _sharp" _her sister said, still with a glacial tone. But Beth knew she was loving it, and that she was just having fun with poor Glenn. She was willing to bet that tonight Maggie was gonna be a lot nicer to him and actually try and get to know him.

She heard Daryl grunt in disbelief behind her, and she immediately grinned at him.

"You were wrong. You owe me five bucks!"

He looked at her, trying to frown but still looking slightly amused.

"When did I ever bet five bucks? You Greene girls are dangerous, I'll tell ya that"

* * *

Beth was nervous.

They were all sitting in the cafeteria together, having lunch.

Glenn still looked shocked from the conversation before, and he was sitting as far away from Maggie as possible, much to everyone else's amusement.

Maggie, instead, had decided to sit right in front of Daryl, and Beth knew it was because she wanted to determine whether he was good enough for her little sister or not. And this was why she was nervous: Daryl just wasn't a sociable person, and he was replying in grunts to all of her sister's questions, mouth still full.

When lunch was over, he still hadn't had a proper conversation with Maggie.

Feeling a little disappointed and frustrated, Beth got up first and made her way to the ice, walking with Rick and discussing the spins they had to try that day with him.

She was back on the ice and ready to skate when she saw Maggie talking to Daryl, just outside the ice.

She couldn't hear anything they were saying, but she saw Daryl nodding, and actually talking. And, when the conversation ended and Daryl was back on the ice, she cought Maggie's satisfied smile.

Maybe he had won her over, after all.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! I am not sure whether the competition will be in next chapter or the one after! We'll se what the Muse says :) In the meantime, review/follow if you like it, and if you wanna be friends on tumblr I'm francescadb! :) **


	11. Regionals

**This chapter took a long time. I had to do some research about the way the Qualifications work in America, and writing the skating bit was a real pain, I gotta tell you. I finally have some free time so hopefully I can update a bit faster. I can't promise anything, but I'll try :) Thank you SO MUCH for reviewing and following and for all the love, it means the world **

* * *

The weeks leading to the Qualifications flew away fast, or at least it seemed to Beth.

Maggie had left, after a visit that turned out to be almost a week long. Beth didn't like speculating, but she secretly thought that the fact that her sister's date with Glenn had turned out to go much, much better than both of them expected had something to do with it.

Maggie had promised to come see the competition together with their parents and Shawn, and that made Beth feel a bit more confident.

In order to qualify for the National Championship, Daryl and Beth would have to place fourth to first in the regional competition, and then make the top 4 in the Sectionals. This year New England Regionals were gonna be held in Connecticut.

Beth didn't wanna say it out loud out, but she knew that the real competition wasn't at the qualification rounds. If she were still skating with Zach, she wouldn't even have to _do _the Qualifications, having earned the right to a spot after making the top 5 at the previous nationals. Considering the level that she and Daryl were at, if they didn't mess up _really _bad there was no way they weren't gonna go to National: their routines were World Championship level, after all.

Because of this rule, Amy and Shane were already qualified, and so were Rosita and Carlos and all the other main competitors. If on one hand Beth was glad of having more time to perfection their program before they competed against the bigger names, on the other she was eager to prove herself against them.

The Long Program was ready, and it was by far the best she had ever performed in her life. She was confident that she and Daryl could achieve great things with it, and although Daryl hardly ever expressed his opinions, she could tell that he thought so too.

All they had to do now was compete.

* * *

The choice of their costumes had been way harder than Beth expected, and Daryl was to blame entirely for it.

He had rejected pretty much ANY costume that they had presented to him, sending Carol and Beth on the edge of a nervous breakdown. In the end, he had decided to wear black for both programs, and there had been no way of making him change his mind. Beth was wearing a silver and periwinkle dress for the short, and a beautiful and simple white one for the long, having to interpret the role of Christine Daae.

Three days before they left for the Regionals, their costumes had finally been completed, and Rick had insisted for a dress rehearsal.

Beth had walked out of her locker room with hair, dress, and make-up done perfectly with Carol's help. When Daryl had seen her, Beth had noticed his eyes skimming over her body before turning of a darker shade, and that had sent a jolt of electricity down her spine.

He looked really handsome with his black shirt and black trousers, and Beth noticed how, when he placed himself behind her and put his hands on her waist before the music started, his heart was beating a little faster than usual, and his hands had been stronger on her. She had tried really hard not to shiver at his touch.

She could swear he had shivered too.

* * *

Things had changed between him and Beth, over the past few weeks.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she had made her way under his skin, inside his heart and his mind, and there was no way in hell he was gonna be able to shake her away from him.

The words Maggie had told him, fast and whispered, when she had stopped him on their way to the rink still echoed in his head loud and clear, as if she had shouted them to him instead.

"My sister likes you. You seem like a decent guy, but remember that if you break her heart you're gonna have to deal with me. And I'm _not _nearly as sweet and nice as she is."

He still didn't believe it, that Beth could like him. Hell, he didn't think he was ever gonna be able to believe it. Beth Greene was the most beautiful girl he had ever met, and she was kind and just so _good _he almost felt too dirty to touch her.

And touch her he did. Obviously he had to, every single training was becoming like a sweet torture that he never wanted to end, but now he touched her even outside of the ice. He didn't know how it had started, or when, considering he had never felt comfortable with physical contact because of his abusive past. One day, he had just found himself putting a hand on Beth's arm to direct her somewhere, or just lightly touching her shoulder when he was talking to her.

She touched him too, always delicately and with those huge blue eyes looking at him intensely, and he was quickly getting addicted to that. She smelled so damn sweet, and she was just so... so Beth.

Did she like him? It didn't matter. It couldn't matter. Rick would have killed him, and he could already read the news calling him a dirty ol' redneck trying to ruin the life of the innocent blonde. And he wasn't gonna disagree with that: it's what it would look like, and it was the truth.

_Jus' too good for ya, lil' brother, _Merle's voice rang in his head.

Too fucking good.

* * *

The Arena where the Regionals were gonna be held wasn't at its fullest, on that first day. Beth, Dary, Rick and Carol had arrived the day before to test the ice and to do some press duties. Sasha had come with them to make sure they got the best interviews so that their sponsors were gonna be happy about it, and Michonne had travelled with them too, to take care of their bodies and prevent any incident.

They had all had an early night, resting for the first day of competition, and now, here it was. The big moment, the moment of truth. It was make it or break it, and Beth found herself really nervous for the first time since she had gotten here.

She and Daryl were sitting together, warming up in one of the backrooms. Their costumes were on, the make-up ready, and they were going over the choreography with Rick and Carol.

"…And Daryl, remember that after the triple-double combo you gotta be faster so that you and Beth can prepare the lift properly," Rick was saying.

Daryl just nodded. Beth could tell he was nervous too, his first time skating in front of a public in five years. They were both conscious that all the eyes would have been on them. There was an unusual amount of press, and that was definitely because of them.

"You go up in fifteen minutes. Finish warming up and then we have to start going," Rick finished, before going to talk to Carol. Beth knew he wanted to give the two of them a moment together.

She looked at Daryl and took his hand, big and rough, in both of hers, smaller and pale.

He looked at her with such a raw intensity that it took her breath away: he seemed so vulnerable in that moment that she felt her heart clench, and she squeezed his hand tightly.

"We'll make it," she whispered.

He didn't say anything, so she moved one hand and placed it on his face, feeling his rough stubble and his sharp cheekbone.

"Together," was all she said, because she knew she didn't need to say more with him. She knew he got it.

He nodded, slowly, and for a second it seemed to Beth like he was slightly leaning into her touch, and it was his turn to squeeze her hand.

"Whatever happens," Beth said then, because she knew it was now or never, "I'm happy that I'm doing this with you."

He blushed slightly, never ceasing looking at her, before mumbling, "Me too".

Rick reached them then, and her hand dropped slowly from Daryl's burning face. He nodded at her. It was time to go.

* * *

When they made their entry the public cheered loudly, but Beth could hear everyone buzzing as well, and it wasn't like she hadn't expected this, but it also made her a bit nervous.

She and Daryl skated towards the centre of the ice, holding hands, and, in a surreal moment of absolute silence and stillness, they proceeded to set themselves in the initial pose.

The music started, with violins exploding right at the very beginning of the song. So did Beth and Daryl, skating in two different directions at full speed, before turning towards each other: Beth skated towards him, he grabbed her waist and, after the preparation, they had their first thrown triple twist, one of the hardest things in their program.

It went amazingly, Beth felt herself flying before Daryl caught her safely in his arms. They kept skating, fast, and soon their triple-double jump combo came. It was a delicate and crucial passage, and once again it went smoothly.

They started a more choreographed part, with Daryl skating with an intensity and a passion that Beth had never seen before in him: it was like he had transformed, and every time their eyes met he looked at her as if he was about to devour her.

She didn't have time to dwell on such thoughts though, because the music was rising and it was time for another triple throw, and this she had to land on her own.

She gathered all her strength and focus, and that throw that had caused such pain during practice went smoothly, and she couldn't hold a smile towards Daryl, skating towards her after she landed.

The worst had passed: now she could enjoy bringing Carol's beautiful choreography to life, and she realised that the public was cheering for them louder and louder with every new lift, or jump, or spin.

She couldn't believe that Daryl, usually so reserved and shy, was skating with such fire within him, but that had just helped ignite her as well: she had never skated with this intensity, and she hoped that her family in the audience was gonna see that.

The music was coming to an end, as the choreography got more and more intense, and she prepared herself for the final lift that was gonna close their program.

Daryl's hands found her as they were skating, and seconds later she was soaring over the ice, and she could hear the crowd roar but all she could think about was how happy this made her: skating, the hard work paying off, but most of all doing all of this with Daryl.

He put her down and it was over.

They had made it.

* * *

Beth would have never forgotten the moments after the music ended: the way Daryl had raised an arm, looking almost angry in his celebration while she jumped up and down before throwing herself in his arms. He had kissed the top of her head and held her tightly to him, and she hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

She knew it had gone well. She could tell by Rick's satisfied smile as he hugged them and in Carol's proud expression.

They obviously had to keep perfecting this, but it being their very first competition as a pair and after only a month and a half training together, it had gone amazingly.

Now they were sitting in the booth waiting for their score, cameras pointed at their faces.

Beth's previous best with Zach was a 65, while she knew that Amy and Shane's record score was a 72. She had decided not to think about the Russian couple, Volosozhar-Trankov, whose new Short had scored an astonishing 83 in their very first outing that year.

Sitting there waiting, she felt Rick's hand on her shoulder while she was holding Daryl's- she hadn't let go of it since they had left the ice, and he didn't seem to mind.

He looked at her for a moment and she saw him winking at her with a reassuring nod. Instantly, her nervousness dissipated, and finally their score was announced.

They got a 70, and Beth felt like she was going to cry. Not only it was the highest score in her career, but it was a really competitive one, especially considering that it was likely to get higher. Much higher, if this was what they could get with only a month of training.

Everyone was hugging, the audience was roaring and they were in first place by a mile. Everything was going like in her wildest dreams.

* * *

She had never seen Daryl this relaxed, and she realized what a huge burden he had felt before they proved themselves and everyone that they could do this, that _he _could still do this.

They were all having dinner together at the hotel, since they couldn't properly celebrate: they had the long program tomorrow, and although they could afford to pretty much screw everything up and they still would have made the top 5, they needed to perform as best as possible to see how effective their program was on the judges.

Despite this, the Greene family had been invited over, and they had rented a private room so that they could all eat in peace.

Beth had been dying to introduce Daryl to her parents and brother, and although she could tell he was pretty nervous at the idea, he had acted like a civilized person to them, and she had seen her father nodding approvingly at Rick afterwards.

"So Glenn isn't coming?"

"Maggie, I told you, he's not competing at Regionals," Beth replied, amused, as she and Maggie stood together in front of the big window of the room, while the others chatted around behind them. "Besides, why don't you text him? I know he gave you his number."

Maggie shook her head "I don't know. It seems silly, considering how far apart we live."

"So you _do _like him?"

Maggie shrugged, but Beth read right through her.

"Maybe," Maggie admitted, before adding "But this thing isn't gonna go anywhere, Bethy."

"Not if you don't do something about it" she chirped, maliciously.

Her sister looked like she didn't wanna have her life under scrutiny anymore, so she turned the questions on her.

"What about you? Are _you _doing something about… you know who?"

Beth blushed, before shaking her head.

"No. I don't know, sometimes I get the feeling that he… he might like me too, maybe. But then I think 'what if he doesn't?' and if I ruin this… You saw how great we were today. I can't risk losing that."

Maggie sighed.

"I think if you really looked instead of freaking out about this, you would realize that he likes you back. But that's obviously just my opinion, and…"

Sasha approached them.

"Maggie? I have Glenn on the phone, and he wants to talk with you," she said, looking pretty confused herself.

Beth squealed "I KNEW IT!" while Maggie grabbed the phone and quickly made her way out of the room.

Beth's eyes searched for Daryl, and she was surprised to see that he was making conversation with her father.

Quickly, she made her way towards them, and smiled at both of them when she reached them.

"Hey daddy, hey Daryl. What were you talking about?"

Hershel put a hand on her head, stroking her hair before letting it fall.

"I was just telling your new partner how much I appreciate that he decided to unretired just to skate with you. It obviously was the right choice."

Beth looked at Daryl and found him nodding sheepishly and blushing.

"I got lucky, Daddy" she said then, beaming at Daryl.

Hershel left them saying that he needed to talk to Rick about something, and Beth finally had a moment with Daryl since the competition.

"We were pretty great today" she began, and he finally looked a bit less uncomfortable. Hershel could be intimidating.

"Yeah, we were. Y' did great, Beth," he mumbled, clearing his throat, eyes on the floor.

She took his hand for a second and forced him to look at her.

"You did great too. I really love skating with you, Daryl."

The tips of his ears turned red, and he didn't say anything for a minute, his eyes constantly falling on their joined hands.

She started to drag him towards the others, but he pulled at her hand.

Beth stopped, turning towards him curiously, and she could feel her heart thumping in her chest.

"Me too," he murmured.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the first competition! Soon enough we'll start meating the _real _competition, don't you worry :) I know Daryl and Beth are very slow, but I always figured their romance would be a slow burn! :) If you want to, add me on tumblr francescadb! I would love to be friends with all of you lovely people :)**


	12. Tame

**I really love this chapter and I hope you love it too! Thank you everyone for your reviews on last chapter, they made my week much better :) **

* * *

Beth couldn't fall asleep that night. She was finally back home, a gold medal around her neck and a ticket to Sectionals, but the adrenaline still hadn't left her tired body. The long program had exceeded all expectations, awarding them with a 123, an unprecedented result in her skating career.

With her mind, she kept going back to that amazing moment when the music had stopped, and she had realised what a performance they had just delivered.

She had turned towards Daryl, and his eyes were burning, full of passion and hunger, planted on her face before he roughly grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him in a bone-crushing hug.

Despite all the amazing events of that day, that was the moment that was making her lie in her bed still awake at 4 a.m., her mind playing it over and over again looking for something she herself didn't know what it was.

They had to wait for tomorrow morning to read the first articles about them, but Sasha had excitedly showed her the twitter feed and the youtube comments about their performance, and people had loved it.

Everyone was praising the chemistry between them, and the noticeable improvements in her performance. Everyone was incredibly surprised at Daryl's performance, too, calling it the 'comeback of a lifetime'.

Of course, there were comments made by the supporters of other couples that made a horrifying read, especially those made by Shane and Amy's fans, still mad at Daryl for what had happened with Andrea, but Beth didn't care at all.

Nothing could make her care about that when Daryl's eyes were still burning in the back of her mind, an electric blue that was as hot as fire.

Once again, she wondered what it meant, but had no answer to her unspoken question.

* * *

The day after the competition, Beth and Daryl were greeted by fans, waiting for them outside the ice-rink.

It had happened to Beth before, with Zach, especially after the big competitions, but she wasn't expecting such a response in such a short amount of time.

She had signed autographs and snapped pictures with everyone, and she was still outside when Daryl had parked his truck next to her car.

Beth wasn't sure how he was gonna react to this: he was a really reserved person, and she had noticed how he didn't like being touched by people –for some reason that didn't include her, and he often initiated casual touches between them,- and he definitely hated the attention.

She looked at the young girls waiting for him excitedly and hoped he could make an effort for them.

His eyes darted over the scene with their usual observing look, and he seemed to debate with himself before he slowly made his way towards Beth and the fans.

Beth beamed at him, and he gave her a small nod before taking pictures with everyone who wanted one, Beth turning into a photographer for the occasion and encouraging him to smile, only gaining glares from him, or better, failed attempts at glares.

When they finally made it inside, Glenn was the first to greet them and congratulate them, followed by Jacqui and Karen.

Beth slipped a note in Glenn's hand. It was a note from Maggie. She hadn't read it, but she was dying to know what it said, and from Glenn's blush and dreamy smile she guessed it was good news.

"Can I just say, I didn't expect your date to lead to this?" she told him, a playful nudge to his shoulder.

Glenn shook his head, incredulous, telling her "I didn't either, trust me. No one expected this _less _than I did."

Beth grinned at him, lifting a hand in the air and giving him a high-five.

"You obviously must be great at first dates, Glenn Rhee. I must get you to teach me one or two things," she laughed.

"Stop it!" Glenn laughed, a hand on the back of his head as he blushed, embarrassed.

Rick entered the building in that moment, looking perplexed to find everyone still at the reception.

"So one win and you decide it's time to stop training?" he asked, but he was smiling, scratching his short, well kept beard.

He finally looked more relaxed, Beth noticed, and she smiled at him when he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm really proud of the two of you. It can only get better from now. We got a month and a half before Sectionals, let's make the most of it."

Oh, Rick. Ever the motivator, the leader. Daryl nodded at him, and Beth smiled at both of them. And just like that, they were back to practicing.

* * *

"Do you miss it?"

He turned around, looking at her inquisitively.

"Georgia. The wild. Do you miss it much?"

They were eating their lunch alone, sitting on a wooden picnic table in the park that was just a few minutes away from the rink. The leaves were bright orange, and he had to admit that autumn in New England had a whole different charm to it.

She had asked him to go with her, told him she liked to eat outside every now and then, and he had agreed to go with her. Hell, he couldn't have refused her if he had wanted to.

That slip of a girl had managed to _tame _him. She had started with smiling at him, talking to him, holding his hand. The touch of her cool hand on his cheek before their short program was still very much burning on his face.

He was a surly, bad tempered man but he turned into putty in her hands. Let her touch him, let her _pet _him, let her talk _with _him instead of to him. As much as he tried to save the appearances, it was fucking obvious.

"Yeah. Miss bein' alone in the woods."

He did, there was no denying it, but the truth was that when he was with her he didn't miss it as bad. He actually found himself wanting to take her in the woods with him, one day. She looked like the kind of girl who would have hated it, but he knew better than holding prejudices against her. He had in the past, and he had been damn wrong.

"I miss Georgia too. We should go back together some time. I'd like to see your house in the wild," she said with a sparkle in her big, blue eyes.

His heart clenched in his chest, and he cursed himself for allowing his mind to believe that she could feel for him the same thing that he felt for her.

"It'd be nice," he just muttered, without looking at her.

Lori had called him out on it. He knew she had noticed it immediately, since that first dinner they had together at the Grimes. He suspected that Rick could see it too, and Maggie had sensed something after only a couple of days.

But Lori had been the only one with enough guts to call him out on it, to try and get him to fucking talk about his feelings.

He hadn't denied it. He knew Lori knew better than that, and there was no point in trying to deceive her. He hadn't confirmed it, either.

It had happened one night after training. Lori had come to pick up her husband, and Daryl was still at the rink. He was just about to leave, but Lori stopped him on his way out, while Rick finished some paperwork before he could leave. That man had always a shit ton of paperwork, Daryl couldn't even comprehend how the hell that was possible.

Lori had started chatting with him, and she had invited him for dinner, like she did every time she saw him. He had declined, too tired to make the effort to be civil during dinner and not wanting to be rude.

"The programs are looking amazing, Daryl," she had told him then.

He had just nodded, and grunted something as a reply.

"You and Beth really _do _have amazing chemistry together. I couldn't picture it at first, but when I saw you skating it just was so beautiful, the way you two just seem to _find _each other."

Daryl really hadn't known what to say then, starting to feel really uncomfortable.

Lori had just smiled at him, putting a hand on his arm.

"It's okay to like her, you know. We all do. I know you always think you don't deserve good things, but Daryl: you do."

He had just stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the floor and stealing an occasional glance to Lori's dark, warm eyes. She looked serious, and kind.

"Look, all I'm saying is… don't give up before you've tried."

And with that, she had walked away, giving him one last smile.

* * *

Her ankle had started hurting again.

It was a mild pain, barely there, but it was getting constant and Beth was terrified. She hadn't told Rick or Daryl yet, but she had decided to go to Michonne and get herself checked.

"I think you overdid it, preparing two programs in such a short amount of time. Not to mention the fact that Daryl is much stronger and taller than Zach, which puts more pressure on your ankle every time he throws you on the ice."

Beth nodded, feeling tears prickling her eyes. Michonne was looking at her seriously, but with kindness in her black eyes.

"It's not bad. The results of the rays don't show anything abnormal," she said, trying to calm her down.

"So… what do I do?" Beth asked, nervously.

"You slow down a bit. Whenever you feel like it's starting to hurt abnormally, you stop. And no throws for at least one week."

Beth sighed. She really wanted to rehearse more and prepare for sectionals, but she didn't have a choice.

* * *

Daryl hadn't taken the news well, and Beth knew that no matter how hard she tried to get it into his thick skull that it wasn't his fault, he was gonna keep feeling guilty about this until the end of time.

Their training that week, after she had delivered the news, hadn't been going well, mainly because Daryl was so nervous and snappy.

She wasn't sure what to think. Athletes always had physical problems, she wasn't the first and she wasn't gonna be the last, but Daryl always seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, and she could see him eying her ankle with worried looks every single time they did something that wasn't walking on the ice.

On Friday afternoon, she couldn't take it anymore.

They were in the middle of a routine when she realized that he was basically keeping her from skating, practically holding her above the ice every time it was possible.

She exploded.

"Daryl, we can't go on like this," she had snapped, facing him.

"What're ya talkin' bout girl?" he had replied, sounding ready for a fight.

"I'm talking about you treating me like I'm gonna break!" she didn't wanna raise her voice but she couldn't help it. His behaviour in the past few days had pushed her buttons and she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"An' what's gon' happen if ya break your ankle, huh? That's on me!" he was shouting back now, and Rick started moving towards them as if he wanted to separate them.

Beth wasn't scared though, not when she could see so clearly that the person that really was scared was Daryl. He was terrified.

"Daryl…" she started, a softer quality to her voice, reaching out for him like she always did now.

"No."

He jerked away from her touch and she flinched. He turned around and left, ignoring Rick's shouts at him to come back.

* * *

She had flinched. Just for a second, but she had. And in that moment, she reminded him of when a brisk move from his dad could send chills down his spine, freezing the blood in his veins. He remembered how he would flinch in his presence.

And he had made her flinch.

He had scared the one person that had managed to tame him, that had started to breech that damn wall he had so meticulously built.

He knew he was fucked the second he started to let her light shine through the breeches she had opened in that wall, and sometimes he wished he hadn't let her in at all, 'cause now he cared about her and with caring came the pain too.

Like seeing her flinch when he had jerked his arm away.

She had to hate him, now. He knew the moment she finally realised he was nothing, a nobody, just a stupid redneck asshole, would have come. He had prepared himself for it, but he found himself wishing it had come later.

What happened to someone after they had been tamed, if the person who had tamed them left? Did they went back to feral, or did they stay tamed, forever waiting for that one person to come back to them?

He didn't knew. He didn't fucking know any of those things.

All he knew was it was too late to go back to pretending he didn't care about Beth Greene.

* * *

She hadn't gone home after practice had ended so abruptly. She couldn't, not after seeing the hurt and the fear in Daryl's eyes that afternoon. Not when she knew that maybe she could do something about it, help him overcome some of it.

She hadn't driven immediately to his place, wanting to cool down a bit and to really think about what she wanted to tell him.

Now it was dark outside, and she was making her way to the apartment he had finally decided to rent a couple weeks ago. She felt her heart beating in her throat, but she wasn't scared. Daryl could never scare her.

She rang the bell and waited patiently for him to come open the door.

When he did, he didn't say anything for a long moment, his eyes scanning her intently in search of something. Slowly, he stepped aside and let her in.

His apartment was simple, but it smelled like him, like pine and spices. She walked to the centre of the living room, and then she sat down on the couch.

"Come sit with me" she said, softly, feeling strangely calm.

After a second, he obeyed, his head hanging a bit low, as if he felt ashamed of something. When he was beside her, Beth slowly but firmly put two fingers to his chin, raising it so he was looking at her.

"Take my hand," she said, offering him hers.

He was staring right into her soul, never for a second letting go of her eyes, and he took her hand in his bigger one. She squeezed it and stroked his palm with her thumb, slowly, as she spoke.

"Daryl, I need you to stop carrying everything on your shoulders. I need you to stop thinking that you're gonna hurt me, cause I know you'll never do that to me. You are a good person, Daryl. I trust you so much. But you can't take it all on you. It's not on you, it's on us. We're in this _together."_

He was looking at her intensely, and she could swear she felt him release a tense breath, as if he was finally letting go of some of that fear.

"I know you worry about me, but you gotta remember that I worry about you, too, and I can't stand seeing you take everything on yourself to keep the responsibility of everything off my shoulders. I can handle it. I _want _to handle it. Let me carry it with you."

He didn't say anything. His eyes were glistening a little, and he was almost shaking with every breath he drew in.

Beth did what felt the most natural to her in that moment: she let go of his hand and gently linked her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck and hugging him tightly, rubbing his back soothingly.

He let her. He was stiff at first, and then he just melted under her hands, letting out ragged breaths and holding her back, tightly.

She couldn't help but think Daryl didn't get many hugs, but she definitely needed one, and she wanted to be the one giving it to him.

Because she was in love with him. She was in love with this beautiful, stubborn, rough and incredibly kind man, and she wasn't gonna let him sabotage himself anymore. Not under her watch.

* * *

**I really hope you enjoyed it! I'm going home for Easter break for a month, so I hope I find some time to write from there, but updates might be a bit slower! We'll see about that! Please review if you liked this, it honestly makes my day :)**


	13. Shift

**As I thought, being back to Italy is making it way more difficult to find time to write, as I'm constantly catching up with friends and family! But this chapter is finally done, so here it is! I hope it doesn't disappoint :) Reviews to last chapter where absolutely INCREDIBLE and I just am so grateful you guys are reading this!**

* * *

Daryl didn't know how long they had stayed like that, holding each other, her face buried in his neck and her hands soothingly caressing his back. If only she had known what that gesture meant to him, how much it meant that it was his back she was soothing.

Maybe they stopped hugging when his ragged breath went back to normal, he didn't remember. But he knew he had to say something in that moment. Beth wasn't expecting him to, but he felt like he had to, like he was gonna regret it forever if he didn't.

Slowly, he let her go, instinctively pushing back a strand of blond hair from her face, his hand lingering on her soft, pale skin for a second before falling back into place.

She was looking at him with those blue eyes, and he saw them glancing at his lips for a second before coming back up. He felt a shiver run through him.

He needed air, he needed space. He couldn't think straight with her so close to him, not after she had held him like that, not after he had allowed himself to be so raw and vulnerable in front of her.

Gently, he pushed her away from him, clearing his throat.

"Never relied on anyone for anythin'," he heard himself say, voice rough.

Beth was looking straight into his eyes, waiting for him to continue if he wanted to.

He took in a deep breath, eyes falling to the ground, muscles tense as he started to speak again.

"When I was a kid, my family wasn' really a family. Had a mean, asshole drunk for a father. He used t'beat my mum up, 'n Merle and I, too. My mom… she tried. She did, but she jus' could never… she died in a fire. Was to drunk t' forget the cigarette."

He felt Beth hand on his arm, light but strong, strong enough to remind him he was far away from his horrible past now.

"Merle was all I had. Never could count on him for anythin', sometimes he left 'n was gone for months, or got himself locked up, but he was my blood."

He had to stop to keep himself from crying. Beth's hand squeezed his arm lightly, and she waited patiently to recollect himself.

"He died two years ago. OD'd on some shit. I've always known that only Merle could kill Merle. The fuckin' asshole," his voice broke, his hands now covering his hands.

He had never talked about Merle's death before. He felt Beth move, and then she was kneeling in front of him, her hands on his face over his.

"It's okay. It's okay to hurt," she murmured to him, her eyes shining as if she had been crying too, before telling him, "Now you can rely on someone. You can rely on me. You're not alone anymore."

"Maybe you gotta keep on remindin' me, sometimes."

* * *

She woke up feeling much more tired than usual, and for a few seconds she wasn't sure where she was. After blinking a couple times, she realised she was lying on Daryl's couch, a blanket thrown over her and a pillow under her head.

Beth didn't remember falling asleep, but it probably had happened when she had curled up next to Daryl, him holding her, after he had finally calmed down and stopped crying.

Thinking back to last night, she couldn't believe Daryl had eventually broken down and let her see his pain. He was so brave for what he had lived through, and she thought it was incredible he had become such a good man despite the childhood he had lived.

Slowly, shyly, she got up and looked around for him. She heard some noise coming from the kitchen and she stepped inside.

She didn't know why all of a sudden she felt so embarrassed, maybe because deep down she knew that what they had shared last night was a point in their relationship there was no going back from. Or maybe, it was because if she wasn't sure she loved him, before, she was unequivocally in love with Daryl Dixon now. That Daryl Dixon that was standing in his kitchen, making some eggs.

"Hey," Beth said, twisting a lock of blonde hair around her finger. She had to look like a mess, still in her clothes from the previous night, and she suddenly felt really self-conscious about it, feeling a blush creeping up her cheeks.

Daryl turned around, and the tips of his ears were red.

"Hey," he replied, looking at her shyly.

He had changed and his hair was a bit wet from showering.

He cleared his throat: "I, uh… didn't wanna wake ya. Made some eggs" he said, awkwardly.

"Thank you. I'm really hungry" she said, sitting down at the table. Only then she noticed the time: they were late, and Rick was gonna be so pissed.

"We should prob'ly try an' hurry up a bit," Daryl said, giving her a plate with toast and eggs, and some orange juice.

Beth nodded, as he sat in front of her and they started eating.

"'bout last night… thank you."

She lifted her eyes and saw he was staring at her, looking embarrassed but not avoiding her look.

She gave him a small, encouraging smile, before saying: "We're a team. And we're friends… right?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, before nodding.

"Better hurry up eatin', girl," he said then, starting to devour his food. Beth couldn't hold in her smirk at the sight.

* * *

The look Glenn had given them that morning had said it all, especially when he had noticed that Beth was wearing the same clothes from the previous day and when he had seen them arriving together.

Rick had preferred not to make any comments, limiting himself to raising his eyebrows, halfway between amused and unimpressed.

"Arrive late once more and I'll have you stay here 'til midnight," he had declared, hands on his hips and standing in his best sheriff posture.

Beth had smiled at him sheepishly, while Karen and Glenn giggled behind him. Daryl himself had seemed strangely relaxed, and had smirked a bit at her while they warmed up in the gym and Rick was going on and on about the importance of being on time.

"Oh come on Rick. You were the one who always insisted we developed more of a bond, and now we have! See, we're so in synch that we even arrive late together," Beth playfully interrupted him at one point, tired of the rant.

Rick sighed, shaking his head, but it was obvious that he wasn't really bothered by it. In fact, Beth thought he was curious more than anything, but didn't wanna pry.

"Alright, alright. But you better have resolved yesterday's problems, because we need to work hard for Sectionals. We can't think that because we won Regionals so easy Sectionals are gonna be the same thing."

Beth nodded, eagerly, while Daryl grunted his agreement.

"I promise you today we're gonna be perfect, Rick" she turned around towards Daryl, a small smile on her face, "Right?"

He stared at her for a second, before replying "Ya can bet your ass we gonna."

* * *

"You _slept _at his place?! No wonder you weren't answering your phone!"

"Shhhh! Tara! Lower your voice!"

Beth looked around warily, but the café was almost empty, since it was about closing time. Tara laughed, offering her a piece of cookie over the counter before going back to sweeping the floor behind it.

"I'm just sayin'! I never thought you would have done something like this!"

"I didn't do anything!" Beth protested, shoving the cookie in her mouth.

"Well you did sleep at Daryl Dixon's place."

"Stop saying that so loudly!" Beth hissed, before continuing, voice a whisper, "All I did was being there for him when he needed it. He needed to trust me and to let some things out. It's what partners do."

Tara nodded, looking pensive for a second.

"True. But the difference is that you have a huge, huge crush on the guy. Are you planning on telling him anytime soon?"

Beth blushed, eyes falling to the counter.

"No. I decided it's just a stupid thing. He would just think I'm a little girl and I just know he would stop trusting me if he knew. He would think that I did everything to get him to like me back."

"That's not true, Bethy. I don't know Daryl, but he doesn't sound like someone who would just jump to such a conclusion about you. He sounds like someone who cares about you, first of all. I'm pretty sure you told me Maggie thought he actually liked you back?"

Beth shook her head, feeling her heart beat. Oh, how she hoped so. She hoped so, but she knew it was in vain, because there was no way Daryl saw her as more than a friend and a partner. Sure, he was very protective of her, but that was just something that was in his nature. And yes, he had trusted her with very private things, but they were partners. They were family, that's what family did.

"Maggie doesn't know him like I do."

"Maybe you should talk about it with someone who knows him. Have you tried telling Lori about this?" Tara suggested.

"I just feel so embarrassed about it… but maybe I should talk about it with her. Lori always gives me the best suggestions," Beth said.

Tara slapped her arm.

"HEY! And I don't?"

Beth laughed, holding the cookie up high in the air.

"You feed me! That's way more important than wise words."

* * *

When Beth got home that night, she noticed she had two missed calls from Zach.

She realised they hadn't talked to each other since before Regionals, when he had called her to wish her good luck. She felt bad about it. After all, they had shared years together, seeing each other every single day and being each other support.

She couldn't quite believe how fast things had changed, and she couldn't help feeling guilty about not calling him more often, especially considering he was the one living back home, unsure of what to do next, now that the thing he loved the most had been taken away from him. Her world had quickly become all about Daryl and her new partnership, and to say that she had neglected her friendship with Zach would have been an understatement.

Quickly, Beth composed his phone number, which she knew by heart, and waited anxiously for him to pick up.

"I thought you were never gonna call back, Bethy!" Zach's sweet voice filled the phone and made her smile instantly.

"I know, I'm so sorry. I've been a terrible friend lately, can you forgive me?" she asked, holding the phone a little tighter.

"Of course I forgive you, silly. I know how busy you must be, remember? I used to be right there with you," he said, and Beth couldn't not notice the bit of regret in his voice.

"How could I not remember? I miss you! Movie nights aren't the same without you, Zach. All Glenn does is talking about my sister and how he's gonna date her again soon."

Zach laughed on the other hand of the line and she felt herself relax and fall back into the comfort that was their relationship.

"So, how's it going with Dixon? Apart from the fact that he clearly is a better partner for you than me, I mean."

"Zach…"

"It's okay! Really, I mean it, I'm happy for you Bethy. I just wanna make sure he's treating you right and not being difficult."

"He is. He can be very stubborn, but I think we're finally starting to be friends, you know."

"Does he do movie night?"

"He's not really the movie night kinda person. And that was _our _tradition, I would never betray you like that," Beth said, sincerely, before daring to ask: "So… have you thought about what you wanna do next? Maybe train?"

"Nah. I don't wanna be a coach, I think it would be way to hard for me to see people skate and not being able to join in. I was actually thinking about sports journalist, if I can get into some college."

"What! That's amazing Zach! I can totally see it! You were always so comfortable in front of the camera."

"You think?"

"Yeah! You will do great, I'm sure of it," she said, and she really thought so.

"Thanks Bethy. I… I miss your optimism," he confessed, and Beth got the feeling that he had left something unsaid with that statement.

"I miss you too, Zach. Come and visit soon!"

"I'll be at Sectionals, I promise. I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."

His voice had gotten serious, and for a second Beth felt like what he intended was way more than what his words did. She shook the thought out of her head. It just couldn't be.

* * *

Her conversation with Zach had made her realize that she didn't have a tradition with Daryl yet, and while she and Glenn were keeping movie night alive, it just wasn't fitting for her new partner.

When she thought of Daryl she didn't think of a couch and a scary movie, she didn't think of popcorn and hot chocolate. No, when she thought of Daryl she thought of wilderness, fresh air, fire and earth.

"We should go camping."

He turned towards her as if she was crazy. They were sitting outside, on the wooden table in the gardens, eating their lunch together.

"Uh?"

"I think we should go camping together. Or maybe just spend one day in the woods, since we have to train."

"What're ya talkin' about, girl?" he asked, looking perplexed and almost scared.

"I'm talking about us going into the woods together. I was talking to Zach yesterday and I realised you and I still don't have a tradition, and I think we should have one."

He looked at her through the hair falling on his blue eyes, not saying anything for some time.

"Y'think so, huh?"

Beth nodded, a bright smile on her face.

"Y' think ya can handle bein' in the woods?"

"I'm a country girl at heart, Mr Dixon," she said, noticing how the tips of his ears had immediately turned red at the nickname. "So? What do you think about it?"

"We could try. Dunno if Rick's gonna be happy 'bout it," he replied, a small smirk on his face.

Beth found herself wonderstruck by how handsome and young he looked when he smirked, a playful spark in his blue eyes.

"We're not gonna overwork ourselves, I promise! We can just go for the day on Sunday, and maybe you could… maybe you could teach me how to track?" she asked, a bit shy, hoping not to sound too childish.

"Yeah, maybe I could," he replied instead.

Beth was surprised that he had agreed to her idea so easily, but she realized that things had probably changed since he had allowed himself to break down in front of her. Things were different, _he _was different. More playful, more at ease.

"Well, then."

And just like that, she had signed herself up for a day in the woods with Daryl Dixon. Oh, Tara and Maggie were gonna give her _such _a hard time about this.

* * *

**I hope this didn't disappoint! Hopefully I will find some more time to write a new chapter soon between eating all my pasta and getting some uni work done! Love y'all :D**


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